gmijPajfe'l 


M 


REV.  SAMUEL  AARON 


HIS  LIFE, 
SERMONS,  CORRESPONDENCE,  ETC. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST. 


NOR:RISTOWH;  PA 


131 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year   1890,  by 

L.    C.    AARON, 

In  the  Office  of  the   Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


3~C 


Morgan  E.  Wills, 
Printer  and  Publisher. 


TO   THE 

FRIENDS  AND  FORMER   PUPILS  OF  MY  FATHER, 

AS   A    MEMENTO    OF    HIM, 

WHO    "BEING   DEAD    YET   SPEAKETH," 

THIS     BOOK     IS     INSCRIBED      BY     THE     EDITOR. 


INTRODUCTION. 


At  the  request  of  a  number  of  the  friends  of  the  late 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron  this  volume  has  been  prepared.  I 
regret  exceedingly  that  so  few  of  his  sermons,  lectures, 
speeches,  etc.,  have  been  preserved.  A  number  of  the 
sermons  are  largely  notes  of  sermons,  just  as  Mr.  Aaron 
prepared  them  for  his  own  use.  That  the  work  may  prove 
a  source  of  pleasure,  as  well  as  of  profit,  to  those  who  read 
it,  is  my  earnest  wish. 

L.  C.  Aaron. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Sketch  of  Mr.  Aaron 3 

Sermons l7 

Miscellaneous. 

Circular  Letter 89 

Gaming  and  Horse-Racing 93 

Infidelity ■ 94 

Certificate  of  Ordination,  £:c 95 

Agreement,  &c 9^ 

Essay  in  1S19 99 

Memento lo6 

Temperance. 

Annual   Meeting io7 

Report II2 

Plain  Truth "4 

Report Il6 

Notes — License  System 118 

Meeting  . I2° 

Petition ...  121 

Plea  for  Total  Abstinence 122 

Correspondence. 

Samuel  Aaron I24 

Samuel  R.  Gummere x4* 

Isaiah  James *42 

F.  Wayland— John  C.  Ten  Eyck— William  J.  Allinson H3 

Samuel  Stebbins x44 

J.  W.  H H6 

Dillwyn   Parrish x47 

Thomas  P.  Knox — Joseph  Parrish      *4^ 

U.  V.  Pennypacker        x49 

John  J.  Henry— Sumner  Stebbins I5° 

J.  Pancoast — E.  Goodman,  et  al I5I 

William  J  Allinson l52 

Oliver  Johnson IS3 

William  Lloyd  Garrison — Gerrit  Smith 154 

John  Williams,  et  al. — John  Chambers x55 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Correspondence. 

Benjamin  Buckman,  et  al. — Jerome  Walnut,  George  Wright 156 

William  Lloyd  Garrison — M.  B.  Linton 157 

John  A.  Burton 158 

John  Goforth — Samuel  Aaron 159 

Josiah  Phillips 182 

J.  R.  Bowman 183 

W.  F 184 

185 

Samuel  Aaron 186 

Charles  D.  Cleveland 190 

Wendell  Phillips 191 

L S 192 

William   Henry  Channing — Samuel  Aaron 193 

Charles  S.  Bates 199 

200 

Samuel  Aaron 201 

L S 204 

Howard  Malcom — William  Scott •    .    . 206 

William  S.  Hall 207 

Samuel  Aaron  (Address) 208 

Robert  P.  Du  Bois 209 

John  Duer 211 

A.  P.  Buel 212 

Charles  S.  Bates 214 

C.  L.  R.—  J.  W.  Loch-D.  Y.  Yerkes 217 

John  G.  Whittier — Thomas  Adamson 218 

Samuel  Aaron 220 

Anti-Colonization. 

A  Review,  &c 221 

American  Independence. 

An  Address 234 

Selections. 

Ode  to  Simplicity 247 

Lines 248 

Platform  Scene 249 

Finances  and  Currency 251 


REV.  SAMUEL  AARON. 


Samuel  Aaron  was  born  in  New  Britain  township,  Bucks 
county,  Pa.,  October  19,  1800;  and  the  old  house  where  he 
was  born  is  still  standing,  but  has  undergone  numerous  alter- 
ations and  repairs,  so  that  there  are  now  but  few  traces  of  the 
original  building  left.  He  was  of  Welsh-Irish  extraction ;  his 
father  being  of  Welsh  and  his  mother  of  Irish  descent.  The  off- 
spring of  a  second  marriage  of  his  father,  he  was  the  youngest 
but  one  of  four  brothers;  the  family  consisting  also  of  three 
sisters. 

His  father,  Moses  Aaron,  a  farmer  in  respectable  circum- 
stances, was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  a  man  of 
sincere  and  humble  piety,  who  endeavored,  both  by  precept 
and  example,  to  train  up  his  children  in  the  nurture  and  ad- 
monition of  the  Lord.  His  son  Samuel  always  cherished  the 
highest  esteem  for  his  character,  and  most  filial  respect  for  his 
memory,  and  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  him  in  simple  but 
expressive  and  comprehensive  language  as  emphatically  "a 
good  man." 

The  second  wife  of  Moses  Aaron  was  Miss  Hannah  Kelly, 
a  native  of  Hilltown,  Bucks  county,  Pa.  She  was  also  a  con- 
sistent member  of  the  Baptist  church;  a  woman  of  piety  and 
social  worth.  She  died  when  the  subject  of  our  sketch  was 
but  three  years  of  age,  and  at  the  age  of  six  he  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  lose  his  father  also. 

Left  an  orphan  at  this  tender  age,  he  was  placed  under 
the  care  and  control  of  an  uncle,  a  kind-hearted  man  by  na- 
ture, but  unfortunately  addicted  to  habits  of  intemperance. 
The  little  boy  was  frequently  obliged  to  trudge  bare-footed  to 
the  village  store  and  back  with  the  jug  of  liquor,  and  often  felt 
tempted  to  break  it  against  the  stones  along  the  road.     He 


4  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

was  compelled  also  to  carry  it  to  the  men  in  the  harvest  field, 
and  hated  to  do  it.  His  uncle  was  very  cruel  when  intoxi- 
cated, and  his  little  nephew  would  frequently  hide  in  the  barn 
to  escape  undeserved  punishment,  and  wish  that  he  could  die. 
The  sad  condition  of  his  guardian's  family  and  business  affairs, 
and  the  neglectful  treatment  he  received  then,  made  him  in 
after  life  the  terrible  enemy  he  was  of  every  form  of  intemper- 
ance. 

Samuel,  with  his  brothers  and  sisters,  attended  school  at 
New  Britain,  and  the  former  learned  rapidly,  and  was  noted 
for  his  intellectual  ability  when  a  mere  boy.  At  school  he 
read  aloud  in  "Sanford  and  Merton";  and  his  voice  was  so 
clear,  and  he  spoke  so  distinctly,  that  he  presented  a  great 
contrast  to  the  other  boys.  He  was  kind  and  polite  to  the 
girls,  and  a  favorite  with  them.  An  old  lady  (who  is  still  liv- 
ing) who  went  to  school  with  him  when  he  was  a  small  boy, 
said  lately,  that  on  cold  winter  mornings  he  would  keep  at  a 
distance  from  the  fire  in  the  school-room,  and  say  to  the  other 
boys,  "  stand  back,  boys,  and  let  the  girls  have  the  warm  seats." 
As  he  set  the  example,  the  boys  could  not  refuse  to  receive 
his  advice  and  do  as  he  did.  He  was  fond  of  wrestling,  play- 
ing ball,  skating,  and  other  athletic  sports,  and  entered  into 
them  with  all  his  heart;  but  he  had  at  the  same  time  an 
equally  active  brain;  composed  verses,  rhymes,  etc.  He  had 
a  quick  and  violent  temper,  but  brought  it  completely  under 
control  after  he  became  a  Christian.  He  worked  upon  his 
uncle's  farm  for  several  years,  attending  school  during  the 
winter  months,  and  there  imbibing  that  taste  for  reading  and 
study  which  afterwards,  in  connection  with  his  great  natural 
endowments,  enabled  him  to  become  such  an  accomplished 
scholar  and  well-informed  man. 

After  leaving  his  uncle  he  went  to  live  with  'Squire 
Roberts,  and  attended  school  at  Montgomery  Square,  Pa. 
His  teacher,  Mr.  Collom,  an  excellent,  mild-tempered  man 
and  a  capable  scholar,  was  exceedingly  kind  to  his  youthful 
pupil,  and  encouraged  him  to  cultivate  the  talents  he  pos- 
sessed. This  kindness  was  never  forgotten,  and  was  often  re- 
ferred  to   in   after  years   by  Mr.  Aaron,  who  cherished   the 


REV.   SAMUEL   AARON.  5 

memory  of  his  former  teacher,  and  always  spoke  of  him  in  the 
highest  terms  of  admiration,  respect  and  affection. 

At  sixteen  years  of  age,  obtaining  a  small  patrimony  in- 
herited from  his  father,  Samuel  entered  the  Academy  of  Rev. 
U.  Du  Bois,  at  Doylestovvn,  Pa.  In  referring  to  that  event 
years  afterwards,  he  says : 

"  In  the  Spring  of  1S17,  I  was  first  introduced  to  the  knowledge  and  notice 
of  the  Rev.  U.  Du  Bois.  I  had  not  unfrequently  seen  him  in  public,  and  heard 
him  from  the  pulpit;  but  at  that  time  it  was  decided  by  my  guardian,  a  respectable 
old  farmer,  that  I  should  receive  from  him  some  lessons  in  the  ancient  classics.  I 
was  dispatched  alone  to  negotiate  my  admittance  into  his  school ;  and  with  not  a 
little  bashful  reluctance,  greedy  as  I  was  for  that  sort  of  knowledge,  I  presented 
myself  and  my  purpose  to  Mr.  Du  Bois.  I  have  the  most  vivid  remembrance  of 
the  interview  ;  of  my  own  rustic  dress  and  appearance  contrasted  with  his  perfectly 
genteel  form  and  bearing;  how  he  fixed  at  first  his  black  eyes  upon  me,  sparkling 
through  his  spectacles;  how  he  smiled  hope  and  encouragement  upon  me  when 
he  heard  I  had  come  to  woo  the  Muses;  how  eloquent  was  every  look  and  word 
in  praise  of  learning  and  the  learned ;  how  he  spoke  of  bright  men  who  had  risen 
from  what  is  called  humble  life,  and  amongst  others  of  Mr.  ,  then  far  ad- 
vanced in  years  and  intellectual  honors,  though  in  early  life  the  teacher  of  a  com- 
mon school.  In  a  few  minutes  he  put  me  at  my  ease;  made  me  feel  I  was  more 
than  a  clumsy  cipher  in  the  human  series,  and  strengthening  the  determination  in 
my  soul  to  be  useful,  virtuous  and  intelligent.  From  that  hour  until  his  death,  his 
kindness  beamed  upon  me  without  variation  or  eclipse;  in  spite  of  all  that  was 
weak  and  all  that  was  wrong  in  my  course,  his  affection  was  that  of  a  father  and 
a  friend.  He  had  no  peculiar,  far-fetched  modes  of  thinking  or  of  teaching.  He 
seems  to  me  now  to  have  adapted,  with  sound  common  sense,  his  workmanship 
to  such  tools  and  materials  as  he  had.  He  succeeded  well,  I  think,  in  educating, 
that  is,  drawing  out,  the  powers  of  almost  all  who  had  anything  in  them  ;  wdiether 
he  toiled  enough  to  fill  up  empty  or  leaky  skulls,  I  dare  not  undertake  to  say." 

The  boys  at  the  Academy  looked  upon  the  new  pupil 
with  great  admiration,  when  they  heard  that  "that  boy  has 
been  through  the  arithmetic." 

At  twenty  he  connected  himself  with  the  Classical  and 
Mathematical  School  of  John  Gummere,  at  Burlington,  N.  J., 
as  both  a  student  and  assistant  teacher.  While  there  he  be- 
came a  favorite  with  teachers  and  pupils,  corresponded  with 
many  of  them  for  years,  and  retained  them  as  friends  through 
life. 

While  at  school  in  Burlington  he  decided  not  to  remain 
a  teacher  very  long,  as  he  thought  he  was  not  fitted  for  the 
work,  and  shrank  from  the  responsibility.  His  friends  thought 
he  underrated  his  abilities,  and  it  is  probable  he  did  so. 


6  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

In  the  Spring  of  1 821,  having  completed  his  education, 
he  returned  to  Doylestown,  Pa.,  to  assist  Rev.  Du  Bois  in  the 
Academy,  and  remained  there  for  some  months.  Before  leav- 
ing Burlington  he  received  the  following  testimonial  of  respect 

from  some  of  his  friends: 

"Burlington,  N.  J.,  February  1,  1821. 
We,  the  undersigned,  have  agreed,  as  a  testimonial  of  respect  for  Mr.  Samuel 
Aaron,  that  we  will  give  him  a  supper  at  Wilde's  Tavern,  on  the  evening  previous 
to  his  leaving  Burlington,  and  we  appoint  Mr.  Valentine  and  Mr.  Bennett  to  order 
it  at  such  time,  and  to  notify  us.  Win.  Kimber,  John  L.  Newbold,  Wm.  R. 
Richardson,  James  H.  Bennett,  G.  Black,  C.  Holmes,  J.  Elkinton,  Esq.,  Samuel 
S.  Grubb,  John  M.  Brown,  B.  B.  Pittman,  Wm.  Valentine." 

In  March,  1 82 1,  one  of  his  Burlington  school  friends 
wrote  him  as  follows: 

"  I  saw  a  letter  from  a  young  man  in  Doylestown,  who  spoke  very  much  in 
thy  praise  ;  said  thou  wast  considered  fully  competent  to  teach  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages,  and  gave  his  opinion  that  thou  wouldst  make  out  very  well  in  the  Acad- 
emy. It  is  a  frequent  fault  with  mankind  to  overvalue  their  abilities,  but  I  think 
thee  underrates  thine.  I  can  assure  thee  thou  art  regarded  as  a  paragon  by  the 
students  of  this  school,  and  1  believe  thou  art  by  our  teachers  also.  The  young 
man  who  wrote  the  letter  I  have  just  referred  to,  observed  that  '  the  learned  feared 
yet  loved  thee.'  I  have  not  mentioned  these  circumstances  to  flatter  thee,  but  I 
want  thou  shouldst  duly  appreciate  thy  abilities." 

Some  time  after  a  friend  wrote: 

"  Guess  what  I  have  heard  about  you  since  I  have  been  in  this  place.  Why, 
that  you  have  the  name  of  being  the  best  reader  in  the  United  States.  Don't  let 
it  make  you  vain." 

In  1822,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  John  Gummere, 
Mr.   Aaron    returned    to    Burlington,   and    again    taught    for 

Mr.    G .       He   was   there    until    1824,   when    he   married 

Emilia,  eldest  daughter  of  his  old  friend  and  preceptor,  Rev. 
U.  Du  Bois,  and  not  long  after  that  event  he  left  Burlington 
and  opened  a  day  school  at  Bridge  Point,  about  two  miles 
from  Doylestown. 

Remaining  there  but  a  short  time,  he  next  became  princi- 
pal of  Doylestown  Academy,  and  was  there  for  a  year  or  two. 

Upon  his  return  to  Burlington  he  was  offered  an  excel- 
lent position  in  Philadelphia,  but  declined,  because  he  was  too 
independent  to  be  under  the  control  of  others.  He  now  de- 
cided to  study  law,  and  many  of  his  friends  were  willing  to  aid 
him,  as  they  were  desirous  that  he  should  make  the  law  his 


REV.   SAMUEL  AARON.  7 

profession.     One  of  his  intimate  friends  in   Philadelphia,  who 

was  deeply  interested  In  the  matter,  sent  him  the  following 

letter: 

"  Philadelphia,  December  3,  1826. 

Dear  Samuel. — Your  letter  of  the  31st  ult.  came  to-day.  I  rejoice  in  the 
adoption  of  your  present  resolution.  It  has  always  appeared  to  me,  and  I  hope 
my  views  were  correct,  that  the  frame  of  your  mind  was  better  adapted  to  law,  and 
that  law  would  be  more  in  unison  with  your  taste  than  the  drudgery  of  disciplin- 
ing youth,  and  I  exhort  you  to  go  on  with  the  law.  Let  me  not  hear  of  your 
mind's  repenting  after  you  begin.  Think  not,  until  you  have  given  the  law  a  full 
experiment,  of  returning  to  teaching.  You  know  your  own  powers.  When  you 
have  deliberately  determined,  destroy  the  bridge  that  you  cannot  recross.  *  *  * 
It  makes  my  heart  sick,  such  is  my  interest  in  you,  to  think  of  your  longer  delay- 
ing. The  time  passed  in  teaching  has  grounded  you  well  in  science,  and  where 
that  is,  the  superstructure  may  be  lofty.  *  *  *  If  you  are  in  haste  to  become 
a  lawyer,  you  can  study  a  year  in  Burlington,  another  here,  and  gain  admission  to 
Common  Pleas.  *  *  *  I  believe  I  have  answered  all  your  questions.  Should 
you  embrace  the  law  as  a  profession,  you  shall  receive  the  most  strenuous  aid  of 
your  friend ;  and  think  not  this  will  be  a  one-sided  connection.  If  you  avail 
yourself  of  my  books  and  office,  I  want  you  to  become  my  preceptor,  and  give  me 
instruction  in  the  Greek  language,  one  hour  each  week.  I  can  advise  you  in 
legal  pursuits,  and  after  you  have  passed  two  years  in  the  novitiate,  Mr.  Chauncey 
will  introduce  you  to  the  court. 

Yours  sincerely,  J.  R.   \Y." 

Previous  to  the  receipt  of  the  letter  quoted  above,  Mr. 
Aaron  wrote  to  a  friend,  as  follows: 

"  There  is  much  truth  and  force  in  the  views  you  offer  with  respect  to  our 
scheme,  and  I  will  consider  them  well.  Perhaps  after  all  jt  may  be  im- 
practicable for  me  ever  to  change  my  avocation  as  a  teacher.  If  so,  my  oppor- 
tunities here  for  acquiring  information  are  superior  to  what  they  could  be  there ; 
and  I  trust  that  with  the  industry  I  am  now  using,  and  which  I  do  most  seriously 
mean  to  continue,  I  will  be  able  after  a  while  to  engage  in  something  better  than 
my  present  business  with  a  fairer  prospect  of  success.  It  is  a  question  worth  con- 
sidering whether  I  am  really  fitted  for  conducting  the  education  of  youth.  I 
speak  of  it  in  its  widest  sense.  Those  parents,  whose  children  I  should  prefer, 
would  hardly  think  so.  It  is  not  my  own  pecuniary  interest  I  am  to  consider;  it 
behooves  me  to  regard  seriously  the  circumstances  of  those  placed  under  my  care 
as  affected  by  that  relation  with  me." 

Always  a  youth  of  pure  morals  and  exemplary  habits, 
Mr.  Aaron,  in  the  year  1826,  made  a  profession  of  religion, 
and  became  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  at  Burlington, 
N.  J.  Some  months  after  that  he  gave  up  the  idea  of  becom- 
ing a  lawyer;  was  ordained  as  a  minister,  and  in  1828  be- 
came pastor  of  the  church  at  New  Britain,  Pa. 


8  REV.   SAMUEL    AARON. 

He  retained  the  position  but  a  year,  when  he  felt  obliged 
to  resisrn  on  account  of  his  arduous  duties  as  a  teacher,  beino- 
at  that  time  principal  of  the  Doylestown  Academy.  He  feared 
that  he  could  not  go  as  well  prepared  as  he  wished  to  the 
pulpit;  but  the  church  was  unwilling  to  give  him  up.  An 
aged  Baptist  minister  wrote  for  his  encouragement: 

"  I  do  know,  or  think  I  know,  that  the  friends  at  New  Britain  have  always 
been  satisfied  and  more  than  satisfied  with  thy  sermons;  they  have  been  edified 
and  often  enraptured.  Don't  relinquish  preaching,  my  brother;  the  Lord  is 
always  ready  to  direct  and  assist  by  his  spirit  and  influence.  He  hath  said  :  Lo, 
I  am  with  you  always,"  etc. 

In  February,  1830,  Mr.  Aaron's  wife  died,  and  three 
years  after,  in  April,  1833,  he  married  Eliza  G.,  daughter  of 
Samuel  Currie,  a  farmer  of  New  Britain  Township.  Immedi- 
ately after  his  marriage  he  started  on  a  tour,  extending 
through  several  of  the  Western  states,  with  the  intention  of 
settling  there  if  he  found  a  place  to  suit  him.  But  just  after 
leaving  home  he  was  met  by  John  Gummere  and  Charles 
Atherton,  who  persuaded  him  to  give  up  his  plan  of  finding 
a  home  in  the  West,  and  settle  in  Burlington,  N.  J.,  when  he 
returned  from  his  trip. 

In  connection  with  Charles  Atherton,  he  took  charge  of 
the  Burlington  High  School,  formerly  kept  by  John  Gummere. 
In  a  year  or  two  Mr.  Aaron  became  sole  principal,  and  the 
school  attained  a  very  flourishing  condition.  In  addition  to 
conducting  this  large  school,  he  was  for  five  years  pastor  of 
the  Burlington  Baptist  church.  At  this  time  he  wrote  to  a 
friend : 

"  I  am  likely  to  have  my  hands  full  of  labors  and  my  mind  of  cares  of  the 
most  weighty  kind;  for,  in  addition  to  the  school,  the  little  church  here  needs  the 
service  of  somebody  that  will  work  for  nothing  and  find  himself.  The  morality  of 
a  great  many  in  Burlington  is  more  unexceptionable  than  common ;  and  that  the 
religion  of  the  place  might  become  more  animated  and  more  general  is  my  fervent 
desire." 

His  school  was  highly  recommended  by  the  New  Jersey 
Baptist  Association  as  one  likely  to  afford  candidates  for  the 
ministry;  the  best  preparations  in  the  shortest  time.  This 
institution  was  under  the  direction  of  the  Central  Education 
Board,  appointed  by  a  convention  formed  out  of  the  Baptist 
churches  in  the  middle  states.     "In  December,  1834,"  so  the 


REV.  SAMUEL  AARON.  9 

minutes  of  the  Association  stated,  "Rev.  Samuel  Aaron  and 
Rev.  H.  K.  Green  were  engaged  as  professors  in  the  Burling- 
ton Seminary.  Theological  students  were  received  at  seventy- 
five  dollars  per  annum,  which  included  board  and  tuition." 
In  1836  there  was  a  minute  again  commending  the  Burling- 
ton Institute. 

In  1837  Mr.  Aaron  was  asked  to  take  charge  of  Had- 
dington College,  but  declined  the  proposition  in  the  following 
words : 

"  Having  reflected  on  the  subject  pretty  fully  since  I  saw  you,  I  beg  leave 
to  say  that  no  inducement  of  which  I  am  at  all  aware  would  move  me  to  leave  my 
present  situation  for  a  similar  employment.  Here  I  am  not  under  the  control  of 
others;  elsewhere  it  might  be  different;  as  I  am,  merit  or  demerit  is  awarded  as 
it  deserves  ;  the  caprice  of  individuals  might  modify  that  result  in  a  public  school. 
Besides,  I  have  now  a  fine  school  of  about  seventy  scholars,  which  should  not,  I 
think,  be  rashly  left  for  an  uncertainty." 

At  another  time  he  says: 

"  As  to  the  bestowal  of  gratuitous  education  upon  young  men,  very  few,  in 
my  opinion,  possessing  good  talents  and  noble  principles,  would  accept  of  it.  I 
hardly  dare  speak  my  views  of  academic  education  in  this  age  of  splendid  theories 
and  multiplied  experiments.  The  judicious  and  conscientious  instructor  of  a  human 
creature  will  certainly  regard  him  as  a  moral,  rational  and  corporeal  being,  and  be- 
stow upon  his  heart,  mind  and  body  respectively  a  due  proportion  of  attention. 
The  first  of  these  departments  of  his  labor  will  receive  his  greatest  and  most  con- 
stant care.  As  the  mother  minds  her  tottering  babe  not  to  punish  its  missteps  but 
to  prevent  its  fall,  so  will  the  good  teacher  incessantly  watch  over  his  youthful 
charge  not  to  detect  and  chastise  but  to  prevent  obliquity  of  principle.  He  will  use 
his  utmost  exertions  to  preserve  them  from  vicious  associations,  knowing  that  the 
heart  of  youth,  like  the  heated  wax,  receives  and  long  retains  the  likeness  of  what 
impresses  it.  Above  all,  the  most  important  part  of  an  academic  education  is  to 
have  a  teacher  who  lives  as  one  that  expects  to  bear  a  scrutiny  that  regards  moral 
principles  only,  and  not  the  rational  or  physical  powers  except  as  the  used  or  abused 
instruments  of  the  soul.  Truth  and  frankness  on  the  part  of  pupils  towards  their 
preceptor  will  follow  the  use  of  such  means,  and  he  may  with  reason  expect  their 
manhood  to  be  crowned  with  virtue  and  their  immortality  with  happiness.  To  a 
young  American  the  most  important  mental  acquirement  is,  in  my  humble  opinion, 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  our  own  strong  and  beautiful  language,  to  which  all  other 
early  studies,  classical  and  scientific,  should  be  regarded  as  merely  subsidiary.  For 
the  master  spirits  of  the  world  are  not  those  wdiose  skill  in  science  has  made  earth, 
sea  and  air  pay  tribute  to  the  intellectual  and  corporeal  w'ants  of  man,  but  those 
whose  tongues  and  pens  have  thrown  light  and  heat  upon  his  soul,  and  thus  en- 
abled it  to  know  and  enjoy  the  rights,  the  virtues  and  the  glorious  hopes  which  its 
author  has  bestowed." 


TO  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

While  living  in  Burlington  Mr.  Aaron  frequently  delivered 
public  addresses  upon  questions  of  reform  and  lectures  upon 
scientific  subjects,  thus  manifesting  that  capacity  for  varied  and 
exacting  labor  and  that  disposition  for  extended  usefulness 
which  so  eminently  distinguished  him  during  his  entire  career. 

In  1836.  he  was  presented  with  a  handsome  silver  plate, 
bearing  this  inscription,  "To  the  Rev.  Samuel  Aaron,  from  a 
few  friends,  who  have  derived  much  profit  and  pleasure  from 
his  lectures  in  Natural  Philosophy,  before  the  Burlington  Ly- 
ceum, 1836." 

In  April,  1841,  Mr.  Aaron  was  called  to  take  charge  of 
the  Norristown  Baptist  Church,  at  the  same  time  re-opening 
a  select  school  for  boys  formerly  kept  by  Wm.  M.  Hough. 
The  Burlington  Gazette,  May,  1841,  says: 

"  On  the  last  evening  of  Mr.  Aaron's  residence  in  Burlington,  he  took  his 
leave  of  the  community  at  a  temperance  meeting  held  in  the  hall  of  the  Lyceum, 
which  was  crowded  to  such  an  extent  that  many  were  unable  to  obtain  seals.  Of 
his  remarks  on  that  occasion,  I  shall  say  nothing.  The  impression  made  was  too 
deep  to  be  embodied  here,  and  will  long  be  remembered  by  those  who  heard 
him.  His  removal  from  Burlington  is  felt  by  many  to  be  a  loss  not  easily  to  be 
repaired,"  &c. 

Soon  after  moving  to  Norristown,  Mr.  Aaron  was  asked 
to  take  charge  of  the  Academy  there,  and  he  removed  his 
school  to  that  time-honored  building.  While  teaching  here 
he  was  violently  set  upon  in  his  school-room  by  two  ruffians, 
of  whom  one  stood  with  a  cane  uplifted  to  prevent  rescue, 
while  the  other  brutally  beat  him  for  some  pretended  personal 
offense  contained  in  a  recent  temperance  address.  Mr.  Aaron 
at  the  time  holding  non-resistant  views,  with  wonderful  self- 
control,  like  his  Master,  stood  silent  before  his  assailants. 
For  this  offence  they  were  arrested,  convicted,  and  condemned 
to  pay  a  fine  and  short  imprisonment. 

February  10,  1 842,  Mr.  Aaron,  in  connection  with  Rev. 
I.  N.  Hobart,  started  a  newspaper,  "The  Truth."  In  that  we 
find  these  words : 

"  We  intend  then  to  plead  for  the  dumb,  because  he  is  dumb,  and  maintain 
in  our  humble  sphere  the  rights  of  the  oppressed  of  every  class ;  to  rebuke  sins  by 
their  right  names,"  etc. 


REV.  SAMUEL   AARON.  I  I 

Mr.  Aaron's  popularity  at  this  time  as  a  champion  of 
temperance  and  anti-slavery,  and  also  as  a  teacher,  was  such 
that  the  way  was  prepared  for  the  erection  of  "Treemount 
Seminary,"  which  was  effected  in  1844,  and  in  December  the 
school  was  opened. 

Having  resigned  the  pastorate  of  the  church,  he  now  de- 
voted himself  with  all  the  energy  of  his  nature  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  school  for  young  men,  which  became  famous 
throughout  Eastern  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  not  only 
for  the  number  of  its  pupils,  but  for  the  scholarship,  skill  and 
ability  of  its  principal,  and  the  thoroughness  of  the  instruction 
afforded  to  its  students. 

From  this  time,  for  a  period  of  twelve  or  fourteen  years, 
this  school  often  contained  during  a  session  one  hundred  and 
twenty  boarders,  and  as  many  as  sixty  day  scholars.  During 
this  period,  many  of  the  most  eminent  soldiers,  civilians  and 
scholars  of  the  country  were  partly  or  fully  trained  within  its 
classic  walls.  Mr.  Aaron's  motto  was  "Let  us  be  true";  and 
the  only  things  he  would  not  tolerate  in  his  pupils  was  deceit 
and  plain  falsehood.  His  last  words  to  an  intimate  friend, 
when  leaving  Burlington,  were,  "Let  us  be  true";  and  his 
friend  wrote  him  long  afterwards,  that  he  often  thought  of 
those  words,  and  tried  to  live  by  them.  Many  of  his  .pupils, 
years  after  they  had  left  his  school,  wrote  to  him,  expressing 
their  sincere  gratitude  for  his  kindness  to  them,  and  spoke  of 
their  school  days,  while  under  his  care,  as  the  happiest  years 
of  their  life.  One  of  them,  who  became  a  soldier  in  the  Union 
army,  said  to  a  friend,  "I  did  not  like  Mr.  Aaron  when  I  first 
entered  his  school;  but  before  leaving  there,  I  became  so  at- 
tached to  him,  that  I  would  have  fought  for  him."  Another 
wrote  to  Mr.  Aaron:  "I  can  never  forget  the  first  words  that 
fell  from  your  lips  at  family  worship  the  morning  after  I  ar- 
rived at  Treemount, — 'The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning 
of  wisdom.'"  Still  another:  "Permit  me  to  assure  you  of  my 
highest  regard  and  affection.  I  have  ever  traced  my  anti- 
slavery  convictions  to  your  influence  upon  me  in  boyhood ; 
and  in  later  years,  have  often  longed  to  see  you  face  to  face, 
and  enjoy  your  friendship  and  counsel.  When  I  have  wit- 
nessed the  general  defection  in  the  ranks  of  the  professedly 


I  2  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Christian  ministry  from  practical  Christianity  and  human 
brotherhood,  your  life  and  example  have  often  seemed  to  me 
green  oases  amid  the  Sahara  of  profession.  Your  reward  is 
sure." 

Many  of  his  pupils,  through  his  influence  and  example, 
became  earnest  and  useful  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  One,  who 
is  now  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  in  writing  to  a  friend  not  long 
since,  says,  "What  a  world  of  memories  crowd  upon  my  mind, 
as  I  think  of  'Treemount,'  and  the  happy  days  there.     I  have 

been  in  Mount  Holly  at church  several  times  since  Mr. 

Aaron's  death,  and  have  nearly  always  visited  his  grave.  I 
feel  much  indebted  to  him  for  his  goodness  to  me." 

A  former  pupil  now  living  in  New  Jersey  said  lately  that 
when  he  was  a  school  boy  at  Norristown  he  had  seen  Mr. 
Aaron  give  what  he  felt  sure  was  all  the  money  he  had  about 
him  to  a  poor  fugitive  slave,  and  then  forward  him  to  the  next 
station,  on  the  under-ground  railroad.  Some  time  after  Mr. 
Aaron  moved  to  Norristown,  he  with  several  other  lecturers 
was  asked  to  deliver  an  address  on  temperance  in  Philadel- 
phia. He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  accompanied  by  a  num- 
ber of  friends  went  to  the  meeting.  A  handsome  carriage 
had  been  provided  for  those  who  were  to  speak,  and  Mr. 
Aaron  was  asked  to  ride  with  the  others.  He  replied :  "  No, 
I  will  walk  with  the  delegation  from  Norristown."  So  the 
carriage  passed  on  with  the  vacant  seat,  and  he  walked  after 
it.  He  would  not  fare  better  than  his  friends:  if  they  were 
obliged  to  walk,  he  would  go  with  them.  The  relator  of  this 
little  incident,  by  the  way,  said  that  the  speech  delivered  that 
da}/  by  Mr.  Aaron  was  the  best  address  on  temperance  he 
ever  heard.  Many  persons  can  no  doubt  remember  his  devo- 
tion to  the  temperance  cause;  his  words  of  earnest  entreaty; 
his  scathing  denunciation  of  the  sin  of  intemperance  ;  his  tears 
of  pity  for  the  fallen.  At  the  time  when  social  drinking  was 
universal  and  popular,  he  boldly  branded  it  as  a  burning  sin. 
His  invectives  against  rumsellers  were  unsparing,  and  yet 
many  of  them  sent  their  sons  to  his  school,  and  some  re- 
mained during  the  vacation,  that  they  might  be  under  his  in- 
fluence. 


REV.  SAMUEL  AARON.  I  3 

Becoming  involved  in  the  financial  crisis  of  1857,  through 
endorsements  for  a  friend  who  failed  for  a  large  amount,  Mr. 
Aaron  gave  up  Treemount  to  his  creditors,  abandoned  the 
pleasant  home  which  his  taste  and  enterprise  had  beautified 
and  adorned  and  where  he  had  anticipated  passing  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days,  and  in  May,  1859,  accepted  a  call  to  the 
pastorship  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Mount  Holly,  N.  J.  The 
best  years  of  his  life  had  been  spent  at  Norristown,  and  it  was 
a  bitter  trial  to  him  to  leave  there,  seek  a  new  home,  and  begin 
life  anew.  He  gave  freely  of  his  time  and  money  to  advance 
the  interests  of  the  people  there,  and  he  left  behind  him  a 
number  of  sincere  friends. 

A  warm  welcome  awaited  him  at  Mount  Holly,  and  he 
found  himself  among  kind  friends.  A  letter  written  by  him 
on  May  28,  1859,  to  friends  at  home,  says: 

"  Everything  looks  as  bright  and  promising  just  now  [as  to  this  Mount  Holly- 
enterprise]  as  the  face  of  earth  and  sky  this  beautiful  morning;  and  yet,  perhaps, 
both  are  equally  uncertain.  A  church  meeting  so  unanimous  and  hearty  as  that 
which  has  called  me  hither  all  agree  that  they  never  before  witnessed,  and  pros- 
pects for  a  school  brighten  every  day." 

Later  he  writes : 

"  My  heart  yearns  to  see  you  all,  and  I  feel  hardly  able  to  endure  another 
week  of  absence.  I  am  loved  and  honored  here  too  much ;  crowds  flock  to  my 
ministry,  and  every  heart  and  home  seem  open  and  glad  to  entertain  me.  A  new 
world  is  spread  out  before  me,  and  nothing  seems  wanting  to  my  felicity  but  the 
presence  of  my  dear  ones,  the  payment  of  my  debts,  and  the  conversion  of  souls. 
I  am  reminded  of  the  first  of  my  ministry  at  New  Britain,  and  can  hardly  help 
feeling  that  I  am  young  again.  Next  Sabbath  morning  I  hope  to  address  a  dis- 
course to  all  persons  under  afflictions  and  trials.  My  late  sermons  have  aimed 
to  explain  the  relations  and  duties  of  pastors  and  people.  Everything  has  been 
received  with  enthusiasm." 

In  a  letter  of  June  28th  he  says: 

"  I  am  still  too  well  used,  too  much  flattered,  and  too  much  admired.  It 
makes  me  feel  humble  and  ashamed." 

In  September,  1859,  Mr.  Aaron's  family  removed  to 
Mount  Holly,  and  the  Mount  Holly  Institute  was  opened  for 
the  reception  of  students,  Mr.  Aaron  and  his  son  being  the 
principals,  and  the  school  obtained  a  liberal  patronage.     As 


14  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

an  instructor  of  youth,  Mr.  Aaron  was  equalled  by  few  in  the 
energy  of  his  devolion  to  the  work  and  in  his  success  in  in- 
spiring his  pupils  with  his  own  enthusiasm  in  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge.  Among  the  three  thousand,  and  upwards,  who 
sat,  from  first  to  last,  under  his  instructions,  it  is  believed  that 
not  one  could  point  to  an  act  of  injustice  on  his  part.  His 
pupils  never  failed  to  love  and  respect  him,  and  many  of  them 
sorrowed  over  the  tidings  of  his  death,  much  after  the  manner 
and  depth  of  children  over  the  loss  of  a  parent.  As  a  minister 
of  the  Gospel,  he  had  little  regard  for  human  creeds,  and  never 
allowed  himself  to  be  governed  by  the  conventionalities  and 
technicalities  of  the  "divinity  schools."  He  excelled  as  an 
expository  preacher.  He  unfolded  the  meaning  of  the  sacred 
writers  with  master  skill,  and  impressed  the  sacred  lessons 
taught  by  happy  illustrations,  which  fastened  them  upon  the 
memory  and  heart.  It  was  his  custom  on  Sunday  mornings 
to  take  up  a  topic,  and  often  finish  it  in  the  evening.  Toward 
the  last,  he  had  taken  the  incidents  in  the  life  of  our  Saviour 
in  their  order  of  time,  following  him  step  by  step  to  the  end 
of  life.  On  Sunday  evenings  he  delivered  a  course  of  lectures 
on  the  prophecies  that  relate  to  the  nations  surrounding  the 
Hebrews,  which  were  intensely  interesting  and  impressive  and 
full  of  valuable  information.  On  Wednesday  evenings  the 
Psalms  were  taken  up  in  their  order,  the  sixty-ninth  being  the 
last  that  was  explained.  His  last  sermon  had  for  its  text  the 
words,  "By  love  serve  one  another."  He  took  fearless  hold 
of  the  slavery  question,  and  drew  multitudes  of  both  friends 
and  enemies  to  hear  him  in  advocacy  of  human  rights. 

During  his  residence  in  Mount  Holly,  his  time  was  fully 
occupied  in  teaching,  preaching,  visiting  the  members  of  his 
church  and  congregation;  also,  the  sick  and  dying.  To  the 
latter  class  he  was  always  welcome,  as  he  never  spoke  harshly 
to  them  of  their  sins,  but  would  talk  kindly  to  them  and  pray 
for  them,  and  entreat  them  to  come  to  Christ.  He  was  a  man 
of  the  tenderest  sympathy;  very  fond  of  children,  and  enjoyed 
talking  to  them  and  drawing  out  their  ideas  upon  different 
subjects. 


REV.   SAMUEL  AARON.  I  5 

Mr.  Aaron  received  numerous  calls  to  churches  in  New 
England,  the  Western  and  Middle  states.  He  was  warmly- 
attached  to  the  people  of  Mount  Holly,  and  refused  to  leave 
them  when  offered  a  larger  salary  elsewhere.  The  last  winter 
of  his  life  was  peaceful  and  happy;  nothing  occurred  to  trouble 
or  grieve  him.  He  was  preparing  a  work  on  mathematics, 
which  he  hoped  would  meet  with  favor,  but  it  was  not  com- 
pleted. He  frequently  spoke  of  writing  his  life  for  his  chil- 
dren, but  could  not  spare  the  time  from  other  duties  to  carry 
out  his  intentions.  During  his  last  illness  he  took  an  interest 
in  all  that  was  taking  place  at  home  and  abroad,  and  insisted 
upon  having  the  daily  newspapers  read  to  him,  that  he  might 
know  the  latest  war  news.  To  those  who  took  charge  of  him 
through  the  night  he  would  explain  verses  in  the  Bible,  if  per- 
mitted to  do  so.  Not  long  before  his  death  he  requested  that 
one  of  the  windows  in  his  room  might  be  opened  wide  so  that 
he  could  look  out  "at  the  glory  of  the  heavens."  It  was  a 
lovely  morning  in  the  Spring,  his  favorite  season;  the  sun  was 
just  rising,  and  after  looking  earnestly  at  the  sky,  his  eyes 
turned  towards  the  trees  and  grass  which  looked  so  fresh  and 
green,  he  said,  "How  beautiful  are  all  of  God's  works." 
Upon  hearing  that  Richmond  had  fallen  and  Lee  surrendered, 
he  exclaimed,  "Thank  God!  I  rejoice  in  the -salvation  of  my 
country."  His  last  words  were  addressed  to  the  Divine 
Being  to  whom  he  had  committed  the  keeping  of  his  soul  in  his 
youth, — "Thy  grace  is  sufficient  for  me."  On  the  evening  of 
April  1 1,  1865,  surrounded  by  his  sorrowing  family  and  a  few 
friends,  "  he  fell  asleep."  Upon  his  face  there  rested  an  ex- 
pression of  perfect  peace;  and  all  who  looked  upon  him,  felt 
that  his  long  struggle  with  error  and  sin  was  at  last  ended; 
the  battle  had  been  fought,  and  he  had  won  the  victory. 

His  funeral  services  were  attended  on  the  Saturday  fol- 
lowing in  the  Baptist  church  at  Mount  Holly.  The  house 
was  crowded,  and  many  were  unable  to  obtain  admittance. 
The  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Wm.  S.  Hall,  of 
Philadelphia,  from  the  text,  Job  vn,  16:  "I  would  not  live 
always."  A  marble  monument,  erected  by  the  Baptist  church 
of  Mount  Holly,  marks  his  last  resting  place  in  Mount  Holly 


I  6  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Cemetery,  and  a  memorial  window  has  been  placed  in  the 
church  where  he  labored  so  faithfully  the  last  six  years  of  his 
life. 

"And  as  a  bird  each  fond  endearment  tries 
To  tempt  its  new-fledged  offspring  to  the  skies, 
He  tried  each  art,  reproved  each  dull  delay, 
Allured  to  brighter  worlds,  and  led  the  way." 


SERMONS. 


i  Cor.  xi:  26. — "As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and 

DRINK    THIS    CUP,    YE    DO    SHEW    THE    LORD'S    DEATH    UNTIL    HE 
COME." 

I.  The  design  of  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

II.  The  qualifications  necessary  for  attendance. 

1.  The  institution  of  this  ordinance  most  strongly  proves 
that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  what  he  professed  to  be:  that 
he  was  endued  with  prophetic  power,  because  he  clearly  dis- 
cerned, and  in  instituting  this  ordinance  set  forth,  his  death  ;  to 
which  he  voluntarily  submitted,  in  order  to  procure  that  salva- 
tion for  his  people,  which  he  promises  through  the  shedding 
of  his  blood  for  the  remission  of  sins  ;  voluntarily,  because 
there  was  nothing  to  hinder  his  escaping  from  the  hands  of 
his  enemies.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was,  therefore,  what  he 
professed  to  be,  and  not  a  most  wicked  and  shameless  impos- 
tor (as  many  of  his  pretended  admirers  would  make  him, 
without  seeming  to  intend  it,  by  robbing  him  of  his  Divine 
attributes),  for  no  such  shameless  impostor,  however  much  he 
may  love  sin,  is  disposed  also  to  court  infamy,  and  seek  by  a 
public  and  ignominious  death  to  render  himself  the  abomina- 
tion of  mankind. 

2.  This  celebration  is  a  standing  memorial  of  the  awful  but, 
to  saints,  delightful  truth,  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will  come  to 
judge  the  world,  as  says  the  text,  "till  he  come."  To  unbelievers 
it  speaks  a  loud  memento.  That  same  Jesus  declares,  by  the  per- 
petuation of  this  ordinance,  that  you  shall  see  him,  even  every 


I  8  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

eye;  and  they  that  pierced  him  ;  and  they  and  you  shall  wail  be- 
cause of  him,  and  your  hearts,  and  spirits,  and  daring  and  cour- 
age, shall  be  broken  as  was  his  sacred  body;  your  souls  and 
theirs  shall  be  poured  out  in  vain  agony,  as  was  his  holy  soul, 
when  he  cried  out  in  agony,  with  your  sins  upon  him, "  My  God, 
my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me."  It  is  true,  that  should 
this  celebration  cease;  should  Christians  become  unfaithful  to 
their  loving,  and  expiring  Lord ;  should  they  misunderstand  (as 
we  fear  many  do)  or  neglect  their  duty,  and  lose  their  glorious 
privilege,  and  this  heaven-ordained  remembrance  no  more  bear 
testimony  to  the  word  of  God — still,  God  that  cannot  lie,  and 
Jesus  Christ,  the  amen,  faithful  and  true,  would  be  found  un- 
failing, for  he  has  not  made  his  coming  to  depend  upon  his 
people's  celebration  of  his  death  ;  still,  the  trumpet  would 
sound — the  dead  be  raised — the  living  changed — the  great 
white  throne  descend — the  Judge  would  sit — and  heaven, 
earth,  and  hell,  await  his  final  and  omnipotent  award.  But, 
unbelievers,  though  this  grand  event  is  infinitely  more  certain 
than  the  perpetuation  of  this  dying  feast  of  our  Jesus,  sup- 
pose you  consider  it  only  as  parallel  in  probability  with  that 
circumstance,  and  can  you,  dear  dying  friends,  can  you  be  in- 
different to  your  fate  depending  ?  Is  it  at  all  probable  that  the 
followers  of  Jesus,  think  you,  will  neglect  this  ordinance?  Are 
you  not  greatly  shocked,  when  you  behold  any  one  approach, 
and  eat  or  drink  at  this  table  unworthily,  in  the  midst  of  care- 
less, notorious  sins,  appealing  to  the  searcher  of  hearts,  and 
publicly  saying  by  such  participation,  "  I  am  a  sincere  believer 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  so  help  me  God?"  Does  this  in 
another  shock  you  ?  And  will  you  not  view  this  oft-repeated 
celebration  as  a  beacon  to  warn,  to  direct,  and  to  save  your- 
selves ?  O,  mistaken  charity,  that  frets  over  faithless  Christians, 
and  leaves  its  own  work  undone !  its  best  interests  and  hopes 
forgotten  !  But,  believers,  true  friends  of  Jesus,  the  design  of 
this  institution  is,  in  relation  to  this  coming  of  your  Lord 
and  Master,  to  afford  you  ineffable,  and  glorious  consolation. 
Are  you  pious  enough,  hearers,  to  look  for  this  event  with 
joy  ?  Can  you,  with  the  first  followers  of  Jesus  (while  devils 
believe,  and  tremble,  and  with  all  their  past  agonies  still  deem 
this  last  day  of  time  the  first  moment  of  their  fall),  can  you 


SERMONS.  19 

lift  up  your  heads  with  joy,  that  the  coming  of  your  Lord 
draweth  nigh  ?  In  view  of  a  dissolving  universe,  the  great 
apostle  said  at  the  hour  of  his  departure,  "  I  know  in  whom  I 
have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  he  will  keep  that  which 
I  have  committed  to  him  until  that  day."  Alas,  Christian 
hearers,  do  you  sometimes  wish,  and  almost  pray,  that  there 
might  be  substituted  a  day  less  awful,  and  a  judge  less  severe? 
O,  repent,  repent ;  and  seek  faith  enough  to  reply  to  him  that 
says  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly ;  amen  ;  even  so ;  come, 
Lord  Jesus." 

3.  This  ordinance  is  an  affecting,  visible  pledge  of  Christ's 
love  to  his  followers.  Those  were  words  of  distinguished  and 
distinguishing  mercy  that  Jehovah  spake  by  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
"  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  the  Holy  one  of  Israel,  thy  Saviour; 
I  gave  Egypt  for  thy  ransom  ;  Ethiopia  and  Seba  for  thee."  "  I 
have  loved  thee  ;  therefore  will  I  give  men  for  thee,  and  people 
for  thy  life."  Yes,  murmur,  you  that  debate  and  dispute  with 
God,  that  he  gave  idolatrous  Egypt,  polluted  Canaan,  and  proud 
Babylon,  for  his  humble  and  injured  people;  then  turn  to  the 
communion  table  and  behold  his  people  commemorating  the 
Grift  of  his  ozvn  son,  the  immaculate  Lamb  of  God,  and  what  will 
you  object?  He  gave  his  enemies  for  his  friends  ;  and  that  you 
said  was  cruel !  He  gives  his  friend,  the  darling  of  his  bosom, 
for  his  enemies;  awakes  his  sword  against  his  fellow,  and  the 
man  that  is  his  equal ;  and  will  you  but  gaze,  wonder  a  moment, 
and  then  perish  forever  ?  Say  what  you  will,  it  is  a  visible  and 
most  affecting  pledge  of  love  divine,  of  love  that  none  but  God 
could  feel ;  that  none  but  God  in  human  form  could  display. 
Will  any  man  dare  decide  that  Jehovah  was  mistaken  in  de- 
termining that  nothing  but  the  everlasting  death  of  sinners,  or 
the  temporary  sufferings  and  death  of  his  equal  son,  was  suffi- 
cient to  satisfy  the  claims  of  his  law  ?  And  if  he  should,  will  he 
deny  that  it  was  matchless  love,  that  induced  our  Lord  and  Savi- 
our of  his  own  accord,  cheerfully,  to  lay  down  his  life  for  his  per- 
ishing enemies?  He  that  dares  this,  can  hazard  anything! 
Souls  with  him  are  playthings  ;  immortality  a  bauble  ;  eternity 
and  omnipotence,  a  mockery.  But  is  that  man  here  ?  If  he 
is,  let  him  bear  me  witness,  that  he  is  warned  once  more.  But 
if  none  such,  then  why,  oh  why,  do  you  fail  and  heedlessly 


20  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

neglect  to  eat  of  this  bread,  and  drink  of  this  cup,  and  shew 
the  Lord's  death  until  he  come  ;  and  openly  acknowledge  and 
subscribe,  this  visible,  affecting  pledge,  of  the  love  of  our  dying 
Lord? 

4.  But  another  design  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  is  to  improve 
and  strengthen  Christians  in  the  Divine  life,  and  cause  them  to 
grow  in  grace.  This  conclusion  is  very  palpable,  from  the 
natural  and  scriptural  interpretation  of  the  symbols,  that  is  from 
the  meaning  indicated,  by  the  use  of  bread  and  wine.  Our 
Lord  says  to  his  followers,  "  Labor  not  for  the  meat,  that  per- 
isheth,"  &c. — John  vi :  27, 48.  Now,  there  is  no  public,  Christ- 
ian ordinance,  so  solemn,  and  so  important  to  believers,  as  this 
visible  indication  of  their  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  this 
confidence  in  his  body  and  blood  as  the  food  of  their  souls. 
It  is  incontrovertibly  manifest,  from  what  has  been  read,  that 
men  only  live  forever  by  faith,  in  the  Son  of  God.  "  He  that 
eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  dwelleth  in  me,  and  I 
in  him.  As  the  living  Father  hath  sent  me,  and  I  live  by  the 
Father,  so  he  that  eateth  me,  shall  live  by  me."  As  sure  as 
God  exists,  Christ  exists  ;  and  there  is  the  same  certainty  of 
immortality  and  glory  to  every  persevering  believer.  And  as 
he  that  eateth  and  drinketh  unworthily,  eateth  and  drinketh 
judgment  or  damnation  to  himself,  not  discerning  the  Lord's 
body,  and  so  profaning  holy  things  ;  so,  certainly,  he  that  being 
prepared  to  discern  the  Lord's  body,  eats  of  this  bread  and 
drinks  of  this  cup,  feeds  on  that  bread  that  has  come  down 
from  heaven.  As  respects  man,  then,  it  seems  to  be  the  principal 
design  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  to  promote  his  growth  in  grace, 
and  constantly  to  renew  his  spiritual  strength.  Behold,  then, 
believer,  and  admire  the  precious  provision  made  for  thee,  in 
the  person  (prepared  like  bread)  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  cup,  which  you  with  right  preparation  participate,  is  the 
communion,  or  participation  of  the  blood  of  Christ ;  and  the 
bread  that  is  broken,  is  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ. 
And  that  your  soul  has  life  and  health  from  such  participa- 
tion, is  as  sure  as  that  a  child  has  growth  and  strength  from 
needful  fpod  and  drink  ;  nor  is  the  one  more  or  less  mysteri- 
ous than  the  other.  A  person  may  partake  of  the  most 
wholesome  food  and  drink,  and  yet  his  digestive  powers  be  so 


SERMONS.  2  I 

impaired  as  to  fail  entirely  to  separate  from  it  the  essential 
nutriment,  and  appropriate  it  to  its  proper  use,  for  the  support 
and  comfort  of  his  natural  body,  so  that  disease  and  death 
may  be  the  consequence ;  and  in  like  manner  may  one  par- 
take unfitly  of  the  emblems  at  the  communion  table,  his  soul 
not  discerning  the  Lord's  body;  that  is,  not  assimilating  to 
itself  that  spiritual,  heavenly,  immortal  nutriment  that  Jesus 
prepared  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself.  If  all  this  be  true  (and 
surely  the  half  has  not  been  told),  then  does  it  become  of  vast 
moment  that  every  communicant  should  have  the  essential 
qualification,  which  come  therefore  in  the  second  and  last 
place  to  be  considered. 

1.  It  is  believed  by  most  judicious  and  learned  divines 
that  Scripture  baptism  is  essential  to  a  proper  participation  in 
this  ordinance,  inasmuch  as  no  countenance  is  afforded  in  the 
New  Testament,  nor  in  the  early  practice  of  the  churches,  of  a 
contrary  conclusion.  But  some  good  men  deem  the  initiatory 
rite  of  baptism  immaterial,  at  least  unimportant.  As  it  does 
not  so  materially  affect  the  practical  objects  at  present  in  view, 
I  shall  waive  the  further  consideration  of  these  points  on  this 
occasion. 

2.  But  in  the  second  place,  surely  an  open,  credible 
profession  of  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  essential  to 
communion  at  this  table.  I  do  not  say  a  positive  assurance 
of  faith,  and  a  hope  eminently  confirmed  by  experience,  for 
this  would  preclude  the  very  first  approach  of  every  mortal  ; 
but  a  reasonable  persuasion  in  the  person's  own  mind,  as  well 
as  in  the  minds  of  others  of  unmixed  faith,  and  humble  con- 
fidence in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  such  as  is  the  result  of  much 
fervent  prayer  for  Divine  aid  and  illumination  ;  and  of  impar- 
tial, laborious  self  examination. 

3.  Christ  in  this  ordinance  is  to  be  regarded  with  admira- 
tion and  awe.  These  emotions  of  the  soul  cannot  but  be  roused 
in  every  thoughtful  person  by  every  attribute  pertaining  to  the 
character  of  our  glorious  Lord.  "  Beside  the  incomprehensible 
mysteries  of  his  original  character,"  says  Dr.  Dwight,  "  his  in- 
carnation, his  life,  his  death,  his  love  for  mankind,  hi|  propitia- 
tory sacrifice  of  himself,  his  resurrection,  his  exaltation,  his  inter- 
cession, are  all  marvelous  beyond  measure,  and  are  investigated 


2  2  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

by  angels  with  astonishment  and  rapture."  Hence  his  character 
is  declared  by  the  prophet  Isaiah  and  summed  up  by  himself, 
when  he  appeared  to  Manoah  and  his  wife,  in  the  title  "  won- 
derful." This  extraordinary  character,  combined  of  all  that  is 
great  and  good,  is  exhibited  in  the  most  touching  manner  at  the 
communion  table,  and  demands  of  us  the  highest  exercise  of 
religious  admiration.  This  exercise  of  the  Christian  spirit  is 
formed  by  the  union  of  wonder,  reverence  and  delight;  wonder 
excited  by  the  greatness  of  the  things  which  are  done;  rever- 
ence for  the  exalted  character  displayed  in  doing  them  ;  and  de- 
light in  the  manifestations  which  they  contain  of  mercy  and 
goodness  and  in  the  benefits  flowing  from  them,  to  the  count- 
less multitude  of  the  children  of  God.  At  this  table  the  whole 
character  of  Christ  is  brought  before  our  eyes.  We  behold  him 
here,  in  the  act  of  giving  his  life  a  ransom  for  many.  Again 
his  body  is  broken;  again  his  blood  is  poured  out  for  the  sins 
of  men.  His  compassion  for  this  sinful  world  is  presented  to 
us  in  living  colors.  We  cannot  fail  to  remember  who  it  was 
that  thus  loved  us,  and  gave  himself  for  us.  We  cannot  but 
remember  that  he  who  was  the  Brightness  of  the  Father's 
Glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person,  and  upheld  all 
things  by  the  word  of  his  power,  by  himself  purged  our  sins, 
and  then  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high. 
We  cannot  but  call  to  mind  that  by  him  whom  we  here  follow 
to  the  cross,  all  things  were  created  that  are  in  heaven,  and 
that  are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible  ;  whether  they  be  thrones 
or  dominions,  principalities  or  powers  ;  that  all  things  were 
created  by  him,  and  for  him';  that  he  is  before  all  things,  and 
by  him  all  things  consist.  We  cannot  fail  to  recollect 
that  he  is  now  head  over  all  things  to  the  Church  ;  having  a 
name  above  every  name  in  this  world,  or  in  the  world  to  come, 
reigning  in  a  kingdom  which  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and 
ruling  with  a  dominion  which  shall  know  no  end.  We  can- 
not fail  to  realize  that  the  day  is  approaching,  in  which  he  will 
come  in  the  clouds  of  Heaven,  with  power  and  great  glory ; 
with  the  voice  of  the  Archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God 
will  summon  the  dead  from  their  graves  ;  will  sit  on  the  throne 
of  judgment  and  pronounce  the  final  doom  of  angels  and 
of  men  ;  while  from  his  face  the  Heavens  and  the  earth  will 


SERMONS.  23 

flee  away;  and  no  place  be  found  for  them  any  more.  This 
is  the  "  Wonderful"  person  whose  sacrifice  of  himself  is  sym- 
bolized, or  set  forth  by  figures  on  the  altar  of  Christians  ; 
whom  we  there  behold  bleeding,  broken,  dying  and  consigned 
to  the  grave.  This  condescension  was  exercised,  this  humili- 
ation undergone,  for  the  love  wherewith  he  loved  the  church, 
and  gave  himself  for  it.  Who  that  has  any  share  of  the  heav- 
enly spirit,  can  fail  to  exclaim  in  union  with  the  heavenly  host, 
"  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  to  receive  power  and 
riches,  and  wisdom  and  strength,  and  honor  and  glory,  and 
blessing  ;  for  he  hath  redeemed  us  to  God  by  his  blood  ;  out 
of  every  kindred  and  tongue,  and  people  and  nation  ;  and  hath 
made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God,  even  his  Father.  To 
him  be  Glory  and  Dominion  forever  and  ever,  Amen" 

4.  We  should  approach  tins  table  "with  feelings  ^/"profound- 
est  gratitude.  In  every  nation,  and  in  every  clime,  the  feel- 
ing of  gratitude  has  been  manifested  with  universal  approba- 
tion towards  those  who  have  been  considered  promoters  of  the 
common  weal,  or  benefactors  of  mankind.  Even  many  that  mere- 
ly illustrated  and  adorned  humanity  with  their  wit  and  genius; 
and  not  a  few  who  with  bloody  ambition  became  the  whole- 
sale butchers  of  our  race,  and  destroyers  of  nations,  have  been 
held  up  to  the  grateful  remembrance  of  future  generations. 
Painting  and  sculpture,  and  immortal  poetry,  have  borne  their 
names  and  honors  on  to  distant  ages,  and  invoked  and  secured 
for  them  the  gratitude  and  homage  of  mankind.  Yet  kw  of 
these  admired  children  of  Fame,  were  free  from  the  grossest 
vices  ;  such  as  would  render  their  influence  and  presence  bane- 
ful in  private  domestic  life.  Their  career  of  public  glory  and 
benevolence,  nothing  but  selfishness,  promoted  and  ennobled 
by  commanding  talents  and  fortunate  circumstances.  Com- 
pared as  to  their  motives,  their  persons,  or  their  achievements, 
with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  they  appear  like  a  rush-light  in 
presence  of  the  sun.  The  benevolence  that  they  really  pos- 
sessed flowed  from  his  infinite  fullness  into  their  hearts,  as  all 
the  real  benefactors  of  mankind  have  testified  ;  the  beneficence 
they  practised  he  empowered  them  to  perform.  But  his  be- 
nevolence was  infinitely  free  and  disinterested  ;  and  his  bene- 
ficence wide  as  the  universe.     The  scattered  rays  of  boundless 


24  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

love  and  mercy  were  concentrated  and  clustered  round  his 
sacred  person  on  the  cross  ;  presenting  a  scene  of  intense  and 
infinite  splendor  ;  claiming  (and  yet  to  receive)  from  heaven, 
earth  and  hell,  their  chief  and  their  eternal  admiration,  and 
from  his  own  redeemed  their  boundless  gratitude.  Towards 
this  absorbing  gratitude  our  souls  are  led  when  we  approach 
the  sacramental  table.  We  stood  on  perdition's  crumb- 
ling verge  ;  we  infinitely  needed  the  deliverance,  by  such  a 
sacrifice.  We  believed  it  not.  We  wished  not;  much  less 
asked  for  a  deliverer.  There  was  no  eye  to  pity,  no  arm  to 
save.  At  that  awful  period,  unsolicited,  undesired,  unwel- 
comed  ;  to  be  rejected,  insulted,  mocked,  outraged  and  mur- 
dered;  this  benefactor  came,  threw  himself  into  the  breach 
between  us  and  hell.  In  infinite  madness  we  rushed  upon 
him,  as  if  to  push  him  into  it  and  follow  ;  but  he  was  too 
strong  and  too  kind  ;  he  snatched  us  from  its  blazing  jaws, 
and  has  brought  us  to  his  house  and  to  his  table  this  day,  to 
commemorate  his  love  and  our  deliverance.  When  he  did  so 
God  said  concerning  us,  "  Deliver  them  from  going  down  to 
the  pit,  for  I  have  found  a  ransom."  The  guilt  of  our  sins 
was  washed  away  in  the  blood  of  Jesus.  The  gates  of  hell, 
to  all  his  humble  followers  he  closed  forever.  The  door  of 
heaven  he  opened  with  his  own  hand  ;  plucked  out  the  sting 
of  death  ;  and  destroyed  the  victory  of  the  grave,  and  from 
that  gloomy  mansion  opened  in  his  own  person,  a  safe  and 
cheerful  path  to  the  world  of  immortal  glory;  whither  he  hath 
ascended  to  prepare  a  place  for  each  of  his  sons  and  daugh- 
ters. There  on  a  throne  of  majesty  and  mercy,  high  and  lifted 
up,  he  intercedes  for  them,  and  to  them  he  calls  from  that 
happy  world.  Listen  to  his  comforting  words,  "  He  thatover- 
cometh  shall  inherit  all  things  ;  and  I  will  be  his  God  and  he 
shall  be  my  son."  "  And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from 
their  eyes,  and  there  shall  be  no  more  death,  neither  sorrow, 
nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain ;  for  the 
former  things  are  passed  away."  "  And  there  shall  be  no 
night  there  and  they  need  no  candle,  neither  light  of  the  sun, 
for  the  Lord  God  giveth  them  light,  and  they  shall  reign  for 
ever  and  ever." 


SERMONS.  25 


Mark  xii.  34:  "Thou  art  not  far  from  the  King- 
dom of  God." 

An  address  to  the  thoughtful  is  my  object  on  the  present 
occasion  ;  and  I  know  not  how  such  may  be  more  appropri- 
ately addressed,  than  by  saying  to  each  one  of  them,  "  Thou 
art  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God."  These  were  the  terms 
in  which  Jesus  Christ  accosted  a  man,  who  showed  in  a  con- 
versation between  them,  the  character  of  thoughtfulness. 
Who,  having  heard  the  memorable  reply  of  Christ  to  the  ques- 
tion of  the  Pharisees  and  Herodians,  "  Shall  we  give  tribute 
to  Caesar  ?"  and  having  witnessed  his  confutation  of  the  infidel 
Sadducees  concerning  the  resurrection,  accosted  Jesus  saying, 
"Which  is  the  first  commandment  of  all?"  Meaning  undoubt- 
edly "  What  is  the  substance  of  the  Divine  law  ?"  Upon  the 
declaration  of  Christ,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God, 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind, 
and  with  all  thy  strength — and  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself;"  the  scribe  fully  and  thoughtfully — if  we  may  judge 
from  his  language — assented,  and  added  this  weighty  com- 
ment, drawn  from  an  intelligent  and  thoughtful  perusal  of  the 
scriptures  ;  such  love  "  is  more  than  all  whole  burnt  offerings 
and  sacrifices."  Now  it  was  believed,  or  at  least  pretended  by 
some  of  the  Jews,  that  the  offering  of  sacrifices,  especially  of 
tvliole  burnt  sacrifices,  was  Jehovah's  chief  command,  and  of 
course,  the  most  meritorious  act  that  his  worshipers  could 
perform.  But  this  scribe  had  read  and  understood  the  stern 
rebuke  of  the  prophet  Samuel  to  Saul,  the  disobedient  and 
wayward  King  of  Israel.  "  Hath  the  Lord  as  great  delight  in 
burnt  offerings  and  sacrifices  as  in  obeying  the  voice  of  the  Lord. 
Behold,  to  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the 
fat  of  rams.  For  rebellion  is  as  the  sin  of  witchcraft  and  stub- 
bornness is  as  iniquity  and  idolatry.  Because  thou  hast  re- 
jected the  word  of  the  Lord,  he  hath  also  rejected  thee  from 
being  King."     Which  rebuke  was  given  when  Saul   had  pre- 


2  6  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

served  a  few  of  Amalek's  chief  things,  contrary  to  the  Lord's 
command  to  make  a  splendid  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  God.  This 
scribe  had  understood  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  Hosea,  "  I  de- 
sired mercy  and  not  sacrifice,  and  the  knowledge  of  God  more 
than  burnt  offerings."  He  remembered  the  awful,  heart-search- 
ing, heartrending  questions  of  the  penitent  soul  in  Micah's  book, 
"  Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord,  and  bow  myself 
before  the  high  God  ?  Shall  I  come  before  him  with  burnt 
offerings,  with  calves  of  a  year  old  ?  Will  the  Lord  be  pleased 
with  thousands  of  rams,  or  with  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of 
oil  ?  Shall  I  give  my  first-born  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit 
of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ?"  He  remembered  the 
divine  direction  also,  "  He  hath  shewed  thee,  O  man,  what  is 
good  ;  and  what  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do 
justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ?" 
I  say  this  scribe  knew  and  seemed  to  feel  the  force  of  these 
and  many  other  scriptures  that  might  be  cited,  as  appears  from 
his  remarks  to  Jesus,  and  this  together  with  Christ's  words  to 
him,  "  Thou  art  not  far  from  the  Kingdom  of  God,"  shows 
that  he  was  a  serious,  thoughtful  man,  and  therefore  warrants 
my  appeal  to  my  fellow  mortals  from  this  interesting  passage, 
upon  a  state  of  mind  which  we  either  have  now,  or  must  have 
before  we  exist  much  longer. 

1.  Let  me  solemnly  direct  your  minds  to  some  of  the 
encouragements  that  connect  themselves  with  a  seriously  and 
religiously  thoughtful  state  of  the  soul.  I.  "  Thou  art  not  far 
from  the  Kingdom  of  God."  So  said  Jesus  to  the  scribe,  and 
so  trembling  mortal  he  says  to  you.  As  the  sea-tossed,  storm- 
driven  sailor,  when  the  compass  and  the  stars  inform  him  that 
some  safe  shore  is  near,  safe  when  reached,  though  guarded  by 
furious  breakers  and  threatening  rocks,  indulges  the  fearful 
hope  that  he  shall  reach  it  with  life,  though  on  a  single  plank, 
and  makes  a  renewed  and  desperate  effort  at  the  pumps  to  keep 
his  crazy  ship  afloat  a  little  longer.  So  may  the  sin-sick  wan- 
derer from  God,  with  trembling,  listen  to  the  son  of  God,  who 
says  to  him,  "Thou  art  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God." 

2.  To  be  particular,  and,  if  possible,  pointedly  instruct- 
ive.    One  encouragement  is  to  be  derived  from  your  respect, 


SERMONS.  27 

like  the  Scribe,  for  the  divine  law.  If  you  can  say,  "the  law  is 
holy,  and  the  commandment  holy,  and  just  and  good,"  it  is  an 
encouragement;  some  slight  encouragement  at  least;  for  the 
time  has  been,  hearer,  if  it  is  not  now,  when  nothing  was  more 
indifferent  to  your  feelings  than  the  divine  law;  and  faithful 
preachers  know,  by  bitter  experience,  that  if  they  want  the 
friendship  of  this  world,  they  must  not  bring  Jehovah's  holy 
law  too  near  the  consciences  and  the  practices  of  their  fellow 
men.  But  they  know,  too,  as  you  feel,  ye  thoughtful,  that 
heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  sooner  than  one  jot  or  one 
tittle  of  the  law  shall  fail.  And  when  you  perceive  that  the 
Almighty  and  everlasting  God  has  placed  his  life  and  his  law 
side  by  side,  as  co-existent,  and  one  to  support  and  to  sustain 
the  other,  as  you  who  are  thoughtful  do  feel,  then  your  inter- 
est in  this  awful  truth,  your  tremendous  perception  of  re- 
sponsibility, forms  some  encouragement,  that  if  there  be  any 
help  for  any  soul,  it  may  be  vouchsafed  fo  you.  For  it  is 
written:   "To  him  will  I  look,"  &c. 

3.  Your  deep  interest  in  the  Holy  Scriptures;  your 
sense  of  your  own  depravity;  your  perfect  self-hatred  as  a 
polluted  wretch  (not  a  hatred  that  leads  you  to  desire  your 
own  ruin,  but  to  wish  yourself  better  than  you  are;  holier,  I 
mean;  more  like  the  holy  God  of  the  Scriptures);  this  is 
another  feature  of  encouragement  in  your  case;  your  full  con- 
viction that  you  ought  to  go  to  perdition;  your  wonder  that 
the  all-wise  and  all-just  God  could  have  spared  you  so  long; 
all  constitute  some  faint  encouragement  at  least;  that  if  a  ran- 
som may  be  had  for  any  one,  perhaps  it  may  be  paid  for  you. 
No  man  is  so  likely  to  try  so  much  to  prepare  for  trial  before 
the  God  of  mercy,  as  he  who  knows  that  he  is  guilty,  and  the 
law  inflexible. 

4.  Your  belief  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Almighty  Re- 
deemer, the  only  Saviour,  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  given 
to  save,  and  solemnly  pledged  to  save  the  chief  of  believing 
sinners,  your  knowledge  and  belief  of  this,  though  far  from 
giving  you  any  assurance  of  a  happy  interest  in  Christ,  may, 
nevertheless,  afford  a  gleam  of  encouragement  to  your  almost 
despairing  soul.  For,  why  should  that  Saviour  forbid  to  ap- 
proach him;  one  who  feels  that  God  is  holy,  just  and  true; 


28  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

that  feels  himself  most  justly  and  most  necessarily  condemned 
to  eternal  death,  and  who  fully  appreciates  the  sole  merit  of 
the  Son  of  God,  to  redeem  from  even  the  curse  of  Jehovah's 
law?  You  feel,  indeed,  that  he  has  power  to  do  it,  to  reject; 
for  God  hath  given  him  the  power;  that  he  has  law  to  do  it; 
for  he  is  the  administrator  of  the  law;  that  he  has  justice  to 
warrant  it;  but  you  may  tremblingly  hope  that  he  has  mercy 
to  prevent  it.  I  dare  not  state  any  encouragement  too  strongly 
at  the  peril  of  all  our  souls,  but  there  is  more  encourage- 
ment to  hope  that  a  man  fully  conscious  of  laboring  under  a 
deadly  disease,  and  knowing  well  of  a  near  and  compassionate 
and  most  skillful  and  unfailing  physician,  may  be  visited  and 
cured  by  him,  than  one  who  rejects  the  physician  as  an  im- 
postor, or  feels  that  he  needs  him  not.  "The  whole  have  no 
need  of  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick." 

5.  The  possibility  that,  how  many  lying  spirits  soever 
there  may  be,  and'certainly  are,  ready  to  deceive  all  they  can, 
it  is  the  Spirit  of  God  that  has  moved  you ;  that  has  alarmed 
and  convinced  you;  that  has  shown  you  what  man  must  be; 
that  would  be  righteous  with  his  maker;  that  has  disclosed  to 
you  without  disguise  the  realities  of  the  state  to  come;  that 
has  uncovered  that  perdition  and  revealed  the  adamantine 
chains  and  penal  fire,  and  the  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth; 
that  are  just  one  single  step  outside  of  death's  door,  to 
which  all  are  rapidly  hastening ;  the  possibility  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  has  taught  you  all  this,  as  his  first  stern  lesson,  that 
must  be  imparted  to  the  redeemed  on  earth,  and  to  all  men  in 
either  time  or  eternity,  affords  some  slight  encouragement;  as, 
that  being  his  work,  it  shall  be  perfected  in  your  eternal  sal- 
vation. 

6.  I  was  going,  as  the  last  ground  of  encouragement 
that  occurred  to  my  mind,  to  speak  of  the  precious  promises 
of  scripture.  But  I  dare  not.  Unconditional  submission;  yes, 
more;  pure  practical  love  to  Jesus  Christ  are  essentially  ne- 
cessary to  ensure  an  interest  in  the  promises  of  heaven.  "  If 
any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  him  be  Anathema 
Maranatha,  accursed  when  the  Lord  cometh."  And  how  dare 
I,  or  any  man,  bless  whom  the  Lord  hath  cursed?  And  has 
then  all  been  said  that  can  be  said  to  encourage  the  thought- 


SERMONS.  29 

ful?  I  speak  in  regard  to  their  present  state — their  hopes  and 
expectations  in  their  present  circumstances.  I  believe,  before 
the  Lord,  that  nothing  more  encouraging  ought  to  be  said.  I 
am  only  fearful,  though  not  conscious,  of  having  said  too  much. 

II.  It  remains  then  to  say  some  serious  things  concern- 
ing the  discouragements  of  the  thoughtful.  Here  the  preacher 
will  be  censured.  Why  discourage  some  beginning  to  think, 
some  that  we  hope  may  think  about  their  souls,  by  presenting 
the  difficulties  as  insurmountable,  and  the  aspect  of  religion  as 
so  gloomy  and  so  forbidding,  that  the  gay  and  the  thought- 
less, and  indeed  all,  must  turn  away  from  it  in  disgust?  Some 
even  of  our  brethren  may  slightly  censure,  to  say  no  more  ; 
and  the  world — this  big,  proud  world,  did  they  hear  the 
preacher,  and  think  him  worth  noticing  at  all — would  rail. 
But,  censure  and  rebuke,  Christian  brethren  ;  rail,  thoughtless 
world, — Jesus  Christ  regarded  neither  one  nor  the  other,  swal- 
lowed none  of  his  hard  sayings,  when  the  world  said  he  had 
a  devil,  and  the  disciples,  with  few  exceptions,  determined  to 
leave  him.  I  believe  that  for  one  who  is  discouraged  by  the 
severest  Bible  truths  from  coming  to  Jesus  Christ,  that  whole 
multitudes  are  induced,  as  professors  or  non-professors  by  un- 
scriptural  encouragements,  to  cry  peace  when  there  is  no 
peace,  and  walk  with  calm  minds  and  lulled  consciences  down 
to  the  gates  of  death.  "  Follow  me,  with  not  where  to  lay  my 
head ;  take  up  your  cross  and  follow  me ;  I  send  you  forth  as 
sheep  in  the  midst  of  wolves ;  they  shall  persecute  you  from 
city  to  city,"  were  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  to  his  most  dis- 
tinguished and,  shall  I  not  say,  favorite  followers.  I  will, 
therefore,  under  the  awful  sanction  of  his  name  and  example, 
freely  speak  unto  you,  my  dying  fellow-men,  of  the  discour- 
agements to  which  as  thoughtful  persons  you  are  subject. 

1.  The  first  discouragement  is  coincident  with  the  first 
mentioned  grounds  of  encouragement:  the  danger  that  all 
your  apparent  regard  for  Jehovah  and  his  law  may  arise  from 
slavish  fear;  that  you  regard  his  might  rather  than  his  right, 
and  tremble  at  his  power  more  than  you  reverence  his  justice. 
Such  were  the  necessary  conclusions  of  Pharaoh,  Nebuchad- 
nezzar and   others  who  acknowledged  his  power.      In  going 


30  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

thus  far  you  are  only  even  with  the  fallen  spirits.  And  it 
stands  to  reason  that  no  man  ever  loved  his  father  because  he 
beat  him. 

2.  You  are  to  be  discouraged  lest  you  look  upon  your- 
selves as  rather  unfortunate  than  guilty,  and  mourn  with  bit- ' 
terness  over  the  hapless  lot  that  has  consigned  you  against 
your  will  to  the  cruel  tyranny  of  an  Almighty  despot.  "I 
know  thee,  that  thou  art  an  austere  man,"  etc.  As  nothing 
on  earth  can  be  more  miserable  than  a  state  of  helpless,  hope- 
less, interminable  bondage ;  so  with  regard  to  God,  to  view 
him  as  an  implacable  and  Almighty  oppressor. 

3.  Be  discouraged  lest  you  cherish  the  lingering  hope 
of  being  saved  for  your  tears,  your  convictions,  and  your  peni- 
tence. Many  a  man  is  willing  to  make  an  agreement  with  God, 
to  fast  and  pray,  and  punish  himself.  This  is  the  religion  of 
many  benighted  heathen,  and  of  many  self-called  Christians  ; 
but  most  better  informed  people  are  in  danger  of  deceiving 
themselves  with  their  past  experience. 

4.  The  fact  is  discouraging  that  you  are  apt  to  wrest  the 
Scriptures,  which  are  become  an  interesting  book  to  you,  and 
you  will  be  liable  to  speculate  upon  the  mysteries  of  the  divine 
oracles.     There  is  likely  to  be  much  of  this  sort  of  instruction. 

5.  The  fact' is  discouraging  that  many  Christians,  and  so 
called  Christian  ministers,  will  do  much  to  lull  your  whole- 
some fears.  They  talk  of  the  consent  of  millions.  Oh !  the 
doom  of  such! 

6.  The  most  discouraging  fact  of  all  is  the  sad,  sicken- 
ing sight  of  back-slidden  seekers  after  Christ.  The  blossoms 
— the  leaves — the  fruit.  The  sad  sight  of  apparent  penitence, 
declined,  cast  off  forever! 

In  conclusion,  I  will  say  that  I  have  addressed  myself  to 
the  thoughtful.  If  there  are  none  such  before  me  to-night, 
there  ought  to  be. 

Note. — The  latter  part  of  this  sermon  was  not  written  out  fully ;  there  were 
only  scant  notes,  and  the  publisher  gives  them  just  as  they  were  written  by  Mr. 
Aaron. 


sermons.  3  r 


Refutation  of  the  Sermon  of  Rev.  H.  J.  Vandyke,  Deliv- 
ered in  Brooklyn  in  December,  i860. 

"Do  thyself  no  harm." — Acts  xvi,  28. 

"  Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." — Matt,  xix,  19. 

"  He  that  is  greatest  among  you  shall  be  your  servant." 
Matt,  xxiii,  1 1. 

"  He  hath  shewed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good ;  and  what 
doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love 
mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God." — Micah  vi,  8. 

"  Ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year,  and  ye  shall  proclaim 
liberty  throughout  all  the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof." 
Lev.  xxv,  10. 

"  Let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  break  every  yoke." — Isa. 
lviii,  6. 

"  Lie  that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be  found 
in  his  hands,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death." — Ex.  xxi,  16. 

"  Thou  shalt  not  deliver  unto  his  master  the  servant  who 
is  escaped  from  his  master  unto  thee.      He  shall  dwell  with 
thee,  even  among  you,  in  that  place  which  he  shall  choose  in 
one  of  thy  gates  where  it  liketh  him  best ;   thou  shalt  not  op-, 
press  him." — Deut.  xxiii,  15,  16. 

I  have  quoted  these  words  of  Scripture  in  reply  to  the 
legion  of  pro-slavery  preachers  who  mustered  on  the  Presi- 
dent's fast  day  to  torture  that  Divine  Book  into  the  defence  of 
stealing  men,  scourging  nude  women,  and  selling  infants  by 
the  pound,  torn  from  their  mothers'  bosoms.  These  men  and 
their  admirers,  beholding  on  every  hand  the  nation's  treasured 
millions  wasted  by  public  robbery,  the  nation  itself  bankrupt 
in  money  and  running  down  in  morals,  have  ever  denounced 
all  sermons  against  oppression  and  every  national  "organic" 
villainy  as  not  fit  to  be  uttered,  as  "political  preaching,"  "a 
desecration  of  the  sacred  desk  and  holy  day."  But  as  soon  as 
one-fourth  of  the  nation's  power  had  fallen  into  reformatory 


2,2  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

hands  by  a  legal  and  constitutional  vote  ;-  as  soon  as  traitors 
in  arms  had  begun  to  insult  the  nation's  flag,  to  seize  its  trea- 
sures by  force,  and  capture  its  forts  and  arsenals  and  men  ;  to 
torture  and  gibbet  blameless  Northern  men  ;  to  shave  the 
heads  and  daub  with  tar  and  cotton  the  necks  and  bosoms  of 
polished  Northern  women,  the  teachers  of  their  children;  and 
when  the  slow  indignation  of  the  North  began  to  kindle  at 
this,  then  politics  became  a  holy  cause,  and  the  Vandykes  and 
Vintons  and  Palmers  and  Thornwells,  and  all  the  herd,  began 
straightway  to  preach  and  pray  against  the  men  and  measures 
that  stirred  the  ruffian  traitors  up,  and  to  prove  that  reason, 
and  scripture,  and  Christ,  and  God,  were  on  the  traitors'  side. 

And  now  the  men  who  could  not  bear  that  temperance, 
or  politics,  or  any  practical  religion,  should  disturb  the  pulpit, 
have  all  turned  sermon  readers  and  tract  distributors,  and 
many  of  them  totter  about  through  town  and  country  under 
the  burden  of  Mr.  Vandyke's  sermon  and  something  heavier, 
imploring  all  to  study  its  divine,  unanswerable  truth.  Like 
priest,  like  people.  I  feared  they  were  hypocrites  before ;  'tis 
hard  to  doubt  it  longer.  But  I  thank  them  for  tearing  off  the 
vail  themselves,  and  so  confessing  by  act  their  past  hypocrisy. 

I  stand  here,  then,  to-day  to  refute  the  so-called  sermon 
of  Rev.  Henry  J.  Vandyke ;  and  the  task  is  already  done,  in 
substance,  by  the  words  I  have  quoted  from  prophets  and 
apostles,  and  the  Son  of  God.  "  God  is  love,"  says  John  the 
apostle.  "  Man's  love  to  man"  fulfills  both  law  and  prophets, 
was  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  the  disregarded  oppres- 
sion of  the  poor  and  the  crying  of  the  needy  are  oftener  threat- 
ened with  the  vengeance  of  God  than  all  other  sins  together. 
So  when  Henry  J.  Vandyke,  or  any  other  man,  entangles 
Scripture  to  make  Jehovah  a  tormenting  devil  towards  his 
weaker  children,  and  to  make  him  use  the  stronger  portion  of 
mankind  as  the  agents  of  his  bloody  malice, — such  teacher  is 
blinded  by  ignorance,  interest  or  prejudice;  for  Scripture  can 
not  contradict  itself.  The  daring,  perhaps  unconscious,  blas- 
phemy which  sets  God  to  mocking  his  own  Ten  Command- 
ments, is  substantially  refuted  by  the  whole  tenor  of  his  word; 
still  the  habits  of  the  world  require  that  man  should  contend 
with  man,  even  in  vindicating  heavenly  truth.     I  attack,  there- 


SERMONS.  33 

fore,  in  form,  this  vaunted  champion  of  slavery,  ancient  and 
modern,  who  sees  the  prophets  of  God  inaugurating  a  harsher 
system  than  that  of  Carolina,  and  Christ  and  his  apostles  ap- 
proving and  enforcing  the  slavery  of  the  Roman  Empire,  whose 
laws  gave  the  master  power  to  torture,  cut  to  pieces,  burn  or 
crucify  the  innocent  slave  at  will,  and  feed  him  to  his  fishes. 

The  effort  of  Mr.  Vandyke  is  honestly  reduced  to  the  fol- 
lowing proposition  :  "  American  slavery  is  sanctioned  by  the 
Almighty,  because  he  established  and  enforced  a  harsher  sys- 
tem of  slavery  among  the  Hebrews ;  and  because  his  son,  Jesus 
Christ,  and  his  apostles,  saw  and  approved  a  far  more  cruel 
system  among  the  heathen  of  their  time.  Therefore,  to  oppose 
American  slavery  tends  to  utter  infidelity." 

I  am  sure  that  I  present  his  position  fairly,  and  any  sober 
man  that  hears  me  to-day  shall  have  an  opportunity  to  put  me 
right  at  some  suitable  time  if  I  have  erred.  To  substantiate 
this  horrid  dogma  is  the  aim  of  Henry  J.  Vandyke  ;  of  his 
success  he  boasts,  and  writes  to  a  Southern  secession  Doctor 
of  Divinity  of  the  "amazing  sensation"  created  by  his  sermon. 
To  promote  this  end  the  thing  has  been  multiplied  by  millions 
in  papers  and  pamphlets  in  order  to  flood  the  land  ;  and  it  is 
said  that  in  many  places,  and  even  in  Mount  Holly,  industri- 
ous and  willing  colporteurs,  drunk  and  sober,  religious  and 
profane,  hawk  it  about  as  God's  own  voice  sanctioning  the 
traffic  in  human  bodies  and  in  human  souls.  This  doctrine, 
therefore,  I  assail  as  false  and  blasphemous,  tending  to  make 
the  God  of  the  Bible  appear  as  a  monster  to  every  noble  and 
thoughtful  mind. 

"  God  sanctions  American  slavery,"  is  the  teaching  of 
Henry  J.  Vandyke.  What  is  American  slavery?  He  does 
not  tell  us.  Why?  Because  he  dares  not  tell,  either  falsely 
or  truly.  Not  falsely,  for  American  law  books  would  prove 
him  a  liar;  not  truly,  for  his  very  colporteurs  would  shrink 
from  such  blasphemy.  Therefore  he  dodged  the  issue  and  set 
up  a  man  of  straw.  But  without  definitions  of  the  subject  and 
the  principles  there  can  be  neither  reasonings  nor  proofs;  and 
so  our  champion  has  no  arguments  and  reaches  no  conclusion. 

"  God  sanctions  American  slavery."  What,  then,  is 
American  slavery  ?     I  will  tell  you  ;   not  in  my  own  arbitrary 


34  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

forms  of  speech,  but  in  the  words  and  thoughts  of  Christians, 
patriots  and  sages,  and  in  the  enactments  and  administration 
of  the  law.  Mark  the  descriptions  and  definitions  well. 
"American  slavery  is  the  sum  of  all  villainies,"  said  John 
Wesley,  a  Christian  and  a  sage.  "  God  has  no  attribute  that 
can  take  part  in  its  favor,"  taught  Jefferson,  our  brightest  and 
most  suggestive  statesman.  Washington  regarded  it  as  the 
greatest  blight  upon  his  country,  freed  his  slaves  as  soon  as  he 
could,  and  pledged  his  vote  for  the  universal  abolition  of  slav- 
ery in  Virginia  if  such  question  could  come  up.  And  the  il- 
lustrious Lafayette  exclaimed  in  his  riper  years,  "  I  never 
would  have  drawn  my  sword  for  America  had  I  foreseen  her 
continuance  of  slavery." 

"Slaves  shall  be  deemed  sold,  taken,  reputed  and  adjudged 
in  law  to  be  chattels  personal"  (that  is,  equivalent  to  beasts 
and  movables)  "in  the  hands  of  their  owners,  and  their  execu- 
tors and  administrators,  to  all  intents,  construction  and  pur- 
poses whatever." — Law  of  South  Carolina. 

The  marriage  of  slaves  "  cannot  produce  any  civil  effect, 
because  slaves  are  deprived  of  all  civil  rights." — Louisiana 
Courts.  So  slaves  can  be  no  more  married  than  brute  beasts 
can. 

"  Slaves  are  generally  considered  not  as  persons  but  as 
things ;  they  are  held  to  be  pro  nuliis,  pro  mortuis." — Law  of 
■  South  Carolina.  That  is,  "as  ciphers,  as  dead  creatures,"  per- 
sonally. 

"  It  is  not  competent  for  any  court  of  chancery  to  enforce 
a  contract  between  a  master  and  a  slave,  though  the  slave 
should  have  kept  the  contract  fully." — Leigh's  Reports. 

"  The  slave  has  no  legal  right  to  worship  God,  and  is  often 
scourged  almost  or  quite  to  death  for  doing  so." — Judge  Wil- 
liam Jay. 

"  The  slave  can  be  no  party  to  a  suit." — Wheeler  on  Law 
of  Slavery. 

The  slave  can  give  no  evidence  against  a  white  in  any 
case  whatever ;  and  should  a  slave,  male  or  female,  resist  any 
outrage  of  a  white,  even  by  the  lifting  of  the  hand  to  turn  aside 
a  blow  or  attempt  to  escape  from  any  torture,  such  slave  may  be 
struck  dead  with  impunity  and  in  strict  accordance  with  the  law. 


SERMONS.  35 

The  law  forbids  a  slave  to  learn  the  alphabet ;  and  in 
some  States  inflicts  the  most  terrible  penalties,  even  that  of 
death,  on  any  one  who  attempts  to  teach  him. 

An  absconding  slave — that  is,  one  who  hides  in  the  woods 
or  swamps — is  outlawed  in  the  following  terms:  "We  do  here- 
by declare,  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  Assembly  of  this  state,  that 
if  the  said  slaves,  Ben  and  Rigdon,  do  not  return  home  imme- 
diately after  the  publication  of  these  presents,  that  any  person 
may  kill  and  destroy  said  slaves  by  such  means  as  he  or  they 
may  think  fit,  without  incurring  any  penalty  or  forfeiture  there- 
by. Given  under  our  hands  and  seals  this  12th  November, 
1836.  B.  Coleman,  Justice  of  the  Peace.  James  Jones,  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace.     Newbern,  N.  C." 

The  owner  of  Ben  and  Rigdon  advertised  them  thus:  "I 
will  give  the  reward  of  $  1 OO  for  each  of  the  above  negroes,  to 
be  delivered  to  me  or  confined  in  the  jail,  of  Lenoir  or  Jones 
county,  or  for  the  killing  of  them  so  that  I  can  see  them.  W. 
D.  Cobb." 

This  was  twenty-four  years  ago,  before  Lincoln  was  nomi- 
nated, and  I  believe  there  are  hundreds  of  such  advertisements. 
Slaves  in  Virginia  are  or  were  punishable  with  death  for  about 
seventy  crimes  more  than  white  men  are ;  and  in  other  slave 
States  the  same  rule  is  followed,  though  not  to  the  same  mur- 
derous extreme.  Thus  the  slave  is  prevented  by  cruel  penal- 
ties from  knowing  or  reading  the  laws,  and  then  made  the  vic- 
tim of  his  enforced  ignorance.  Draco  and  Caligula  were  lambs 
to  these  slave-holding  legislators. 

The  law  of  Louisiana  makes  provision  for  only  two  and 
a  half  hours  rest  for  the  slave  in  twenty-four;  and  the  law  re- 
quires fifteen  hours  labor  in  South  Carolina.  The  legal  allow- 
ance of  food  for  a  full-grown  slave  for  a  week  is  one  peck  of 
corn  unground.     They  crush  and  cook  it  themselves. 

No  law  protects  or  enforces  chastity  among  the  slaves. 
In  that  respect  they  are  treated  and  held  as  brutes.  Fornica- 
tion, adultery  and  rape  among  slaves,  or  against  the  poor  slave 
woman,  is  no  legal  crime.  If  she  or  any  slave  man  lifts  a  hand 
to  repel  the  white  ruffian  who  assails  her  virtue,  she  or  her  de- 
fender may  be  stricken  dead  with  perfect  impunity.  Thus  the 
American  slave,  in  point  of  rights  of  soul  and  body,  is  treated 


36  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

by  law  like  a  brute,  and  worse;  in  point  of  duties  and  obliga- 
tions, more  is  exacted  of  him  than  man  can  render.  Such  is 
a  feeble  sketch  of  American  slavery  according  to  law.  I  am 
ashamed  of  its  weakness.     The  facts  are  beyond  description. 

But  according  to  Vandyke,  "  God  sanctions  American 
slavery,"  and  all  his  retainers  say  "Amen!"  Does  our  loving 
Father  in  heaven,  and  did  the  gentle,  tender-hearted  Jesus, 
sanction  such  legal  relations,  facts  and  statutes  as  I  have  faith- 
fully though  too  feebly  portrayed  ?  Press  them  on  Mr.  Van- 
dyke and  his  pragmatical  converts,  and  they  would  think  that 
the  divine  administration  had  changed  hands  ;  that  Pharaoh 
had  caught  them  instead  of  Moses ;  and  that  the  apostles  ought 
to  have  said,  "  Let  as  many  niggers  as  are  under  the  yoke," 
reverence  their  masters,  instead  of  addressing  white  slaves.  I 
am  almost  sure  that  these  politicians  who  run  about  this  town 
loaded  with  the  piety  of  Mr.  Vandyke,  would,  under  the  law- 
ful crack  of  American  slavery's  whip,  like  my  sermon  better 
than  his.  I  may  be  mistaken,  for  the  Southern  masters  have 
metaphorically  spit  and  trodden  on  them  this  many  a  day  as 
the  "mud-sills  of  society,"  and  they  have  been  elated  by  the 
compliment;  but  in  the  poor  negro's  place  the  witness,  as 
Friends  say,  might  be  reached  through  the  skin  and  muscles, 
though  the  brain  and  heart  were  torpid  still.  Mr.  Vandyke 
should  have  argued,  like  Calhoun,  that  the  negro  is  not  a  hu- 
man being;  then  he  would  have  been  half  consistent,  for  a 
brute  of  course  is  entitled  to  no  human  rights,  though  it  is 
surely  absurd  and  cruel  to  exact  from  a  beast  all  human  obli- 
gations. But  this  hypothesis  would  have  taken  Mr.  Vandyke 
out  of  the  Bible,  and  he  is  a  preacher,  and  sure  of  meeting 
Drs.  Palmer  and  Thornwell  in  the  slaveholders'  heaven. 

But  as  this  hypothesis  of  the  non-humanity  of  the  negro 
is  put  forward  seriously,  I  will  turn  aside  to  notice  it.  "  The 
negro  is  not  human."  How  do  we  determine  who  is  a  human 
being?  Given  that  some  are  human  beings.  They  can  do 
things.  Then  those  that  can»do  the  same  things  are  human, 
too.  White  humans  can  sing.  But  Elizabeth  Greenfield,  who 
is  as  black  as  soot,  and  called  the  Black  Swan,  is  the  best  nat- 
ural and  native  singer  in  America.  White  humans  can  make 
poetry ;  and  Washington  wrote  to  the  young  black  girl,  Phil- 


SERMONS.  2)7 

lis  Whcatly,  that  her  poetry  was  "elegant."  Some  human 
whites  are  eloquent  orators,  and  all  our  Federal  Senators  and 
Representatives  are  counted  men,  I  think ;  but  Frederick 
Douglas,  Samuel  Ward,  and  several  other  men,  as  black  as 
jet,  are  superior  in  eloquence  to  nine-tenths  of  them.  Skill  in 
mathematics  is  considered  a  fair  proof  of  human  faculties;  and 
Thomas  Jefferson  wrote  a  letter  to  the  negro  Benjamin  Ban- 
nister praising  in  the  highest  terms  the  skill  and  accuracy  dis- 
played by  the  latter  in  the  almanac  which  he  had  calculated 
and  sent  to  Jefferson.  Courage,  military  talent,  generosity, 
and  patriotism,  are  mostly  reckoned  among  the  finest  traits  of 
human  nature  ;  if  so,  a  negro,  Crispus  Attucks,  was  the  first 
man  to  give  his  life  for  our  American  independence, — and 
Washington  and  Jackson,  most  able  and  impartial  judges,  have 
eulogized  the  courage  and  excellent  conduct  of  the  negro 
troops  who  fought  under  their  command  against  British  foes 
for  their  white  American  oppressors. 

Toussaint  L'Ouverture,  of  San  Domingo,  a  full-blooded 
African  negro,  and  a  slave  till  fifty  years  of  age,  having,  with 
Christian  generosity,  saved  his  master  and  all  his  family  from 
the  vindictive  rage  of  the  insurgent  negroes,  then  took  the  con- 
trol of  the  bloody  insurrection  and  turned  it,  with  unprecedented 
skill,  into  a  lawful  warfare  for  human  rights ;  coped  success- 
fully for  ten  years  with  the  best  military  talent  that  Spain, 
France  or  England  sent  against  him ;  baffled  forty  thousand 
of  Napoleon's  veterans  commanded  by  Le  Clerc,  his  brother- 
in-law,  and  left  his  country  free.  Twelve  years  after  our 
revolution,  with  one-sixth  of  our  number,  and  they  all  negro 
slaves,  Toussaint  struggled  against  a  nation  more  numerous 
than  Britain  and  equally  as  brave,  ruled  by  Bonaparte,  the 
greatest  warrior  of  history,  and  won  liberty  and  independence 
for  his  people,  which  have  till  this  day  remained  unquestioned. 
And,  mark  it  well,  as  the  most  remarkable  fact  on  human  re- 
cord, the  negroes  of  San  Domingo  are  the  only  people  under 
heaven  who  ever  disenthralled*  themselves  from  slavery  by 
their  own  right  arms.  And  that  negro  Republic  is  this  day  in 
a  far  happier  and  safer  condition  than  South  Carolina. 

Philanthropy  and  Christian  charity  are  God's  highest  tests 
of  human  attributes ;    and  a  negro  woman  in  New  York  was 


3&  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

one  of  the  very  first  to  establish  a  Sunday  school  in  that  city, 
and  fed  and  clothed  some  forty  white  orphans  at  her  own  ex- 
pense. 

I  have  now  shown  that  some  negroes  have  the  highest 
mental  and  moral  traits,  as  proof  of  their  humanity;  and  I  leave 
it  for  others  to  show  that  black  skin  and  woolly  hair  cannot 
cover  a  human  soul.  This  is  a  digression.  I  return  to  Mr. 
Vandyke. 

"God  sanctions  American  slavery,"  so  teaches  the  Bible; 
and  "the  tribunal  of  reason  and  humanity"  has  nothing  to  do 
with  testing  revelation — revelation  as  expressed  in  the  English 
language.  "  Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body,"  says  the  English 
New  Testament..  A  reverend,  sleek-looking  man  takes  a  crumb 
of  bread  and  says  a  Latin  prayer  over  it,  and  tells  me  it  is 
bona  fide  flesh  and  blood,  the  real  body  of  the  Son  of  God. 
I  say  "  No ;  my  human  senses  tell  me  it  is  bread."  He  re- 
plies, "What  are  your  senses  against  a  miracle  and  the  word 
of  God  ?"  I  answer,  "  When  Jesus  and  his  apostles  worked 
miracles,  healed  the  sick  and  raised  the  dead,  they  appealed  to 
the  human  senses  of  the  witnesses,  asking  them  to  believe 
what  their  senses  perceived  and  us  to  credit  the  veracity  of  im- 
partial persons.  The  senses  came  before  miracles,  and  are 
their  only  tests,  and  much  superior  to  them.  Therefore,  'This 
is  my  body,'  is  not  the  meaning;  but,  'This  represents  my 
body.'  " 

I  see  that  Moses  said,  nearly  four  thousand  years  ago, 
that  God  first  made  plants  and  trees ;  then,  monsters  of  the 
deep,  fishes,  and,  strange  to  say,  fowls  of  the  air;  next,  the  dry 
land  brutes  ;  and,  last  of  all,  man.  Within  fifty  years  the 
geologists  have  examined  the  rocky  strata  of  the  earth,  and 
find  these  orders  of  creation  laid  up  on  those  strong  shelves 
exactly  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  placed  by  the  unsci- 
entific prophet  of  God.  So  the  geologists,  without  intending 
it,  confirm  my  intellectual  faith  in  Moses  through  the  powers 
of  my  reason.  Had  they  found  man  next  to  the  primitive 
granite,  and  plants  only  among  the  surface  clay  and  alluvion, 
I  should  have  doubted — at  least,  been  puzzled. 

There  is  no  heathen  in  China  or  Japan,  except  an  idiot, 
who  does  not  see  and  approve  the  outline  principles  of  natural 


SERMONS.  39 

justice;  condemn  intellectually  falsehood,  fraud  and  murder, 
and  admire  truth,  courage,  temperance  and  generosity.  These 
perceptions  and  intuitions  of  the  human  soul  were  made  by 
the  same  hand  as  revelation ;  they  were  before  revelation ;  they 
are  the  hooks  on  which  revelation  hangs,  the  things  which 
revelation  was  made  to  fit ;  and  that  revelation  which  contra- 
dicts the  senses,  the  reason  and  the  conscience,  is  from  the 
devil  and  not  from  God.  All  human  jurists  in  Christendom, 
of  any  name,  assume  in  man — at  least,  in  enlightened  man — 
the  clear  intuition  of  natural  justice,  and  base  all  righteous 
laws  upon  that  intuition.  They  make,  however,  one  conces- 
sion, namely :  "  If  any  competent  law-giver  violates  natural 
justice,  the  unjust  law  must  be  so  plain  that  it  cannot  be  con- 
strued by  any  ingenuity  in  favor  of  right  and  justice."  Is  it 
wrong  to  apply  this  principle  to  the  word  of  God,  and  to  ex- 
amine carefully  whether  some  seeming  support  of  injustice  and 
oppression  may  not  be  so  construed  as  to  clear  the  meaning 
of  all  cruelty? 

Mr.  Vandyke  ignores  this  principle.  He  finds  in  the 
Bible  some  dozen  words — master,  servant,  bondman,  bond- 
maid, rod,  smite,  yoke,  money,  buy,  sell — and,  presto,  "  God 
sanctions  American  slavery."  Again,  suppose  that  the  Almighty 
did  establish  and  enforce  among  the  Jews  a  system  of  cruel  ser- 
vitude, even  slavery  (which  I  deny),  does  that  make  it  a  rule 
for  other  nations  in  an  enlightened  age  ?  Did  he  not  ordain 
the  bloody  rite  of  circumcision  ?  Mr.  Vandyke,  being  a  Pres- 
byterian, thinks  that  sanguinary  ecclesiastical  torture  is  super- 
seded by  the  gentle  falling  of  a  drop  of  water  on  an  infant's 
head.  Did  not  God  ordain  that  a  man  should  be  stoned  to 
death  for  a  blasphemous  word  against  Jehovah,  or  a  curse 
against  a  parent,  and  the  same  punishment  for  gathering  sticks 
on  a  certain  day?  Did  he  not  send  fiery  serpents  to  destroy 
a  weary,  fretful  people,  and  cause  the  fire  from  heaven  to  de- 
vour and  the  earth  to  open  its  jaws  and  swallow  up  thousands 
of  mistaken  people  who  followed'a  few  pragmatical  leaders  that 
envied  Moses  and  Aaron?  Did  he  not  direct  the  Jews  to  wage 
exterminating  wars  upon  their  neighbors,  sparing  neither  sex 
nor  age,  the  hoary  head  nor  the  lisping  babe? 


4-0  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Mr.  Vandyke's  retainers  here  cry  out  on  my  impetuous, 
sweeping  rashness.  No;  blame  your  champion,  who  has  set 
me  on.  If  you  and  he  claim  the  support  of  one  wrong  and 
outrage  from  the  example  of  the  Jewish  law,  you  shall  sustain 
the  code  or  own  your  folly.  The  Jews  were  and  are  an  oracu- 
lar people,  selected  by  heaven  from  among  the  nations,  de- 
clared in  the  Bible  to  be  an  exceptional  people,  delivered  from 
bondage,  led  by  miracles,  taught  by  prophets,  and  preserved 
for  now  four  thousand  years  against  all  the  efforts  so  often  used 
to  destroy  them.  And  was  any  peculiar  license  which  was 
conferred  on  them  intended  as  a  general  privilege  for  cotton 
planters,  priests  and  politicians?  Was  South  Carolina  author- 
ized to  secede  and  steal  the  nation's  treasures  by  the  ten  plagues 
of  Egypt  wrought  in  her  favor?  I  admit  that  we  have  been 
plagued  on  her  account  these  many  times  for  more  than  eighty 
years.  But  the  plagues  she  caused  us  were  more  like  Sodom 
vexing  Lot  than  like  righteous  heaven  trying  Pharaoh.  Did 
a  power  divine  wall  up  the  sea  to  make  a  path  for  Howell  Cobb 
to  lead  his  Georgians  through  to  fetch  and  carry  slaves  and 
cotton?  Did  the  mountains  blaze  and  the  earth  stagger  to 
give  Alabama  a  newer  and  more  binding  law  than  the  Consti- 
tution ?  Is  Jefferson  Davis  a  greater  and  more  heavenly  sign 
than  the  fiery  pillar  and  the  sheltering  cloud,  that  he  should 
lead  Mississippi  through  "the  wilderness  of  sin"  to  the  Sodom 
of  slavery?  Is  little,  starving  Florida,  that  has  cost  us  fifty 
millions  to  buy  her  swamps  and  alligators  and  drive  away  her 
Indians,  and  that  is  not  worth  to-day  as  much  as  Burlington 
county, — has  she  been  fed  with  manna  from  on  high  to  prove 
her  right  to  break  up  this  fair  Republic  for  the  promotion  of 
slavery  ? 

Let  Mr.  Vandyke  show  these  or  such  like  signs  from 
heaven,  and  it  will  place  his  favorite  institution  in  the  same 
field  of  view  as  Jewish  servitude;  only  that  their  servants  were 
mostly  whiter  than  their  masters,  whereas  Mr.  Vandyke  claims 
Scripture  only  for  holding  negro  slaves, — while  the  only  per- 
sons mentioned  in  the  Bible  who  could  have  been  negroes 
were,  first,  the  wife  of  Moses,  the  most  illustrious  prophet  of 
the  Hebrews  and  the  interpreter  of  God's  first  works ;  and,  sec- 
ondly, the  Prince  baptized  by  Philip  (Acts  v,  3),  the  Prime 


SERMONS.  41 

Minister  of  the  Queen  of  Ethiopia,  who  had  charge  of  all  her 
treasures,  and  kept  them  better,  I  doubt  not,  than  our  modern 
Baptist,  Howell  Cobb.  These  persons,  if  negroes,  were  cer- 
tainly not  slaves. 

But,  "the  Bible  sanctions  American  slavery";  for,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Vandyke,  there  is  no  sin  but  what  the  Bible  for- 
bids, and  it  does  not  forbid  the  enslavement  of  negroes.  There- 
fore that  is  no  sin.  If  the  Bible  did  not  forbid  polygamy  that 
were  no  sin,  says  this  reverend  gentleman.  Here  Mr.  Van- 
dyke is  out  again.  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  divine  law; 
and  when  that  law  is  clear,  however  learned,  it  is  just  as  ob- 
ligatory as  the  ten  commandments.  When  Dr.  Beaumont 
looked  into  St.  Martin's  stomach,  and  saw  the  inflammation 
and  blisters  caused  therein  by  alcoholic  drinks,  no  angel  from 
heaven  could  have  given  better  evidence  that  the  supplying 
and  drinking  of  such  poisons  is  sin.  God  leaves  us  to  find  out 
most  of  our  sins  in  a  similar  way.  The  Bible  mentions  but  a 
very  few.  Did  it  descant  on  all,  its  letters  would  cover  the 
surface  of  the  earth  and  the  face  of  New  Jersey  could  not  con- 
tain the  introduction.  In  fact,  the  Bible  is  not  a  sin  book,  but 
a  salvation  book,  blessed  be  God  ;  it  is  given,  not  to  specify 
all  possible  transgressions  and  moral  diseases,  but  to  point  out 
and  assure  us  of  one  glorious  and  perfect  remedy.  Our  divine 
Redeemer  scarcely  mentions  any  outward  sin  except  hypoc- 
risy, fraud  and  oppression. 

I  am  now  ready  for  verbal  criticism.  I  have  already 
shown  that  American  slavery  is  per  se  an  infernal  system,  and 
cannot  therefore  have  the  sanction  of  God  ;  that  if  Hebrew  ser- 
vitude were  even  a  system  of  oppression,  it  gives  no  necessary 
sanction  to  oppression  elsewhere;  that  a  people  following  He- 
brew patterns  of  domestic  policy  in  enforcing  radical  and  arbi- 
trary distinctions  among  men,  must  have  like  authority  with 
Hebrews.  But  do  the  words  of  Scripture,  even  of  the  Eng- 
lish Bible,  warrant  the  idea  of  chattel  slavery?  The  word 
"slavery"  is  never  used  at  all;  and  the  word  "slaves"  but 
once,  and  that  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Revelation,  where 
Babylon  is  represented  as  sinking  into  hell  at  the  cry  of  a 
mighty  angel  coming  down  from  heaven  and  at  the  call  of  an- 
other voice  from  on  high,  which  bids  God's  people  to  come 


42  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

out  from  her  and  have  no  union  with  her  but  let  her  secede, 
that  the}-  be  not  partakers  of  her  plagues,— while  those  who 
sympathize  with  her,  and  have  been  enriched  by  her  products, 
are  standing  afar  off  (perhaps  as  far  as  New  York  from  Charles- 
ton) and  bitterly  wailing  as  she  goes  down,  reciting  the  list  of 
her  splendors  and  her  wealth,  and  closing  one  strain  with  those 
Southern  articles  of  merchandise,  "slaves  and  souls  of  men." 
Slaves  and  souls  of  men !  Babylon  going  down  to  hell,  hav- 
ing trafficked  in  "slaves  and  souls  of  men."  This  is  the  only 
use  of  the  word  "slaves";  and  the  scene  reminds  us  forcibly 
of  a  city  not  nearly  so  big  as  Babylon  and  daily  growing  less, 
moving  in  the  same  direction,  the  good  folks  running  away 
from  her,  and  Mr.  Vandyke  and  his  cotton  congregation  weep- 
ing and  wailing  over  her,  crying  Alas!  alas!  that  great  city, 
wherein  were  made  rich  all  that  had  ships  in  the  sea;  for  in 
one  hour  is  she  made  desolate. 

The  truth  is  that  the  Hebrew  language  has  no  word  for 
"  slave."  This  is  plain,  because  the  slave  trade  was  in  full  blast 
when  King  James'  translators  gave  us  our  English  Bible;  and 
they  would  have  rendered  the  Hebrew  "evedh"  "slave,"  if 
they  had  dared  ;  but  neither  then  nor  since  have  any  sect  or 
body  of  Christians  dared  to  put  slave  into  the  Mosaic  law. 
And  they  never  will,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  is  not  there. 
And  the  "  Republic  of  Letters"  is  a  free  community,  and  no 
body  of  learned  men  can  afford  to  make  traitors  of  themselves 
to  the  truth  of  literature.  Perhaps,  however,  the  Southern 
traitors  to  their  country  and  to  common  sense  may  bring  out 
a  new  Bible  with  their  new  constitution.  The  word  "evedh" 
is  rendered  both  servant  and  bondman  in  a  very  loose  and 
careless  manner.  It  means  simply  and  solely  "one  who  labors 
for  another  either  with  body  or  with  mind,"  under  covenant  or 
contract  to  do  so.  This  the  word  "bondman,"  or  boundman, 
clearly  implies;  as  bound  or  bonded  by  contract  to  render 
service,  precisely  as  a  mechanic  is  bound  by  contract  to  build 
a  house  for  another  man.  The  word  may  also  represent  a 
youth,  boy  or  girl  bound  out  to  service,  as  an  apprentice  or 
otherwise,  by  a  parent  or  guardian  on  payment  or  promise  of 
money  or  the  worth  of  money  for  such  service,  which  could"  not 
last  more  than  six  years  unless  the  person  himself  at  the  end  of 


SERMONS.  43 

the  six  years  chose  on  his  own  account  to  renew  the  contract. 

And  no  contract,  service  or  obligation  ever  lasted,  or  could 
last,  under  Jewish  law,  beyond  the  year  of  jubilee,  which  was 
to  that  nation  the  ever-recurring  type  of  that  eternal  and  heav- 
enly rest  and  freedom  which  their  Shiloh  or  Messiah,  the 
"desire  of  nations,"  should  bring  in.  The  phrase  "for- 
ever," which  cotton  divines  press  into  the  service  of  eternal 
slavery,  only  carried  forward  the  mind  of  a  Jew  to  that  epoch 
which  their  prophets  had  made  known  as  the  limit  of  a  dis- 
pensation or  institution  connected  with  that.  In  regard  to  ser- 
vitude and  the  enthrallment  of  debts  we  have  the  following 
beautiful,  heart-cheering  words  (Lev.  xxv,  8-13):  "Thou  shalt 
number  seven  Sabbaths  of  years  unto  thee,  seven  times  seven 
years;  and  the  space  of  the  seven  Sabbaths  of  years  shall  be 
unto  thee  forty  and  nine  years.  Then  shalt  thou  cause  the 
trumpet  of  the  jubilee  to  sound  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh 
month,  in  the  day  of  atonement  shall  ye  make  the  trumpet 
sound  throughout  all  your  land.  And  ye  shall  hallow  the  fif- 
tieth year,  and  proclaim  liberty  throughout  all  the  land  to  all 
the  inhabitants  thereof:  it  shall  be  a  jubilee  unto  you ;  and  ye 
shall  return  every  man  unto  his  possession,  and  ye  shall  re- 
turn every  man  unto  his  family.  A  jubilee  shall  that  fiftieth 
year  be  unto  you:  ye  shall  not  sow,  neither  reap  that  which 
groweth  of  itself  in  it,  neither  gather  the  grapes  in  it  of  thy 
vine  undressed.  For  it  is  the  jubilee;  it  shall  be  holy  unto 
you:  ye  shall  eat  the  increase  thereof  out  of  the  field.  In  the 
year  of  this  jubilee  ye  shall  return  every  man  unto  his  pos- 
session." 

This  language  settles,  if  language  can,  the  question  of  un- 
ending servitude.  "All  the  inhabitants  shall  be  free" ;  every 
human  being  shall  return  to  his  own  possession.  Why  does 
not  Mr.  Vandyke  urge  the  carrying  out  of  this  Hebrew  sta- 
tute, so  benevolent,  so  sublime,  so  firmly  established,  so  clearly 
defined  by  Almighty  God?  Because  it  would  not  please  his 
cotton  lords  nor  bring  him  so  large  a  salary.  The  word  "buy" 
is  harped  on  as  a  certain  defence  of  slavery.  What  does  "  buy" 
mean  ?  Let  us  test  some  other  words.  David  says,  "  I  pre- 
vented the  dawn  of  the  morning."  Does  that  mean  that  he 
hindered  the  dawn  from  coming  on  ?  or  that  he  rose  for  prayer 


44  REV-  SAMUEL    AARON. 

before  it  came?  I  anticipated  the  dawn?  Paul  told  his  friends 
that  he  had  purposed  to  visit  them  for  a  long  time,  but  had 
been  "  let  hitherto."  Does  that  mean  that  Paul  had  been  "  per- 
mitted" (as  "let"  now  means)  to  visit  them?  or  that  he  had 
been  "hindered"?  This  play  upon  words  to  promote  villain- 
ous oppression  is  base  on  the  part  of  those  who  know  better, 
and  contemptibly  stupid  on  the  part  of  those  who  blindly  fol- 
low them.  The  Hebrew  for  "buy  "  means  to  get  or  procure 
for  a  proper  consideration.  Boaz,  the  grandfather  of  King 
David,  bought  Ruth,  the  lovely  and  virtuous  young  widow  of 
Moab,  to  be  his  wife.  And  the  prophet  Hosea  bought  his 
wife  for  silver  and  grain.  Were  these  women  chattels?  Our 
worthy  and  useful  fellow-citizen,  William  Risdon,  has  built 
some  forty  houses  here,  and  he  has,  for  money  or  money's 
worth,  "got"  mechanics  and  laborers  to  build  them;  "got" 
them  precisely  in  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew  for  "  bought."  And 
indeed  it  is  very  often  said  that  our  legislators  are  bought  up 
here  in  New  Jersey,  to  betray  their  constituents,  by  means  of 
a  riotous  feast  or  a  purse  of  money.  The  Hebrew  word  would 
apply  here  also;  though  it  was  seldom  used  for  so  base  a  pur- 
pose. These  wives,  mechanics  and  laborers  are  certainly  not 
slaves;  nor  is  the  bought  Senator,  in  the  meaning  of  Vandyke, 
though  he  is  a  far  more  degraded  man  than  the  poor  negro 
that  cringes  beneath  the  lash. 

The  word  "sell"  is  another  term  to  conjure  with;  it  is 
the  co-relative  of  "buy";  and  always,  in  the  Mosaic  law,  when 
used  in  reference  to  a  man  or  woman,  means  to  dispose  of 
one's  self,  in  service  or  employ,  for  a  valuable  consideration. 
Levit.  xxv,  39  and  47,  illustrates  this :  "  If  thy  brother  near  thee 
be  waxen  poor,  and  be  sold  unto  thee,"  etc.;  and  in  47,  "If  a 
sojourner  or  stranger  near  thee  wax  rich,  and  thy  brother  near 
him  wax  poor,  and  sell  himself  to  the  stranger  or  sojourner, 
or  to  the  stock  of  the  stranger's  family,"  etc.  "Be  sold"  and 
"sell  himself"  is  the  self-same  word  in  Hebrew;  and  you 
never  find  in  this  divine  law  a  third  man  or  woman  standing 
by  as  a  chattel,  a  horse  or  cow,  while  two  other  persons 
bargain  and  dispose  of  him.  Never!  Never!  Two  persons, 
and  two  only,  make  such  bargains  for  themselves;  and  buy 
and  sell  mean  get  and  hire.     Nothing,  however,  is  so  necessary 


SERMONS.  45 

to  slavery  as  some  language  of  Moses,  implicating  him  and  his 
people  in  some  diabolical  cruelty;  hence  its  pious  advocates 
gloat  with  peculiar  rapture  over  Exodus  xxi,  where  having 
spoken  of  the  death  penalty  for  man-slaying,  it  says  in  the  20th 
and  21st  verses:  "If  a  man  smite  his  servant  or  his  maid 
(literally  his  boy  or  girl)  with  a  rod,  and  he  die  under  his 
hand,  he  shall  surely  be  punished.  But  if  he  continue  a  day 
or  two,  he  shall  not  be  punished,  for  he  is  his  money."  "  Con- 
tinue a  day  or  two."  And  what  then?  Die?  No;  continue 
a  day  or  two,  uncomfortable  from  the  flagellation,  and  then  get 
well.  Herein  it  is  enacted  positively  that  a  man  for  whipping 
his  boy  or  girl  to  death  must  suffer  death  himself.  It  is  im- 
plied that  great  severity  involved  punishment  of  some  sort; 
but  that  a  whipping,  whose  effects  continue  for  a  day  or  two, 
required  no  notice  of  the  magistrate,  as  the  master  suffered 
loss  of  time  and  consequently  money.  If  "continued"  here 
means  "survived,"  the  translators  would  have  said  so;  for  they 
wrote  in  a  cruel  age  and  under  a  tyrant  king.  The  meaning 
I  give  is  the  meaning  of  common  sense  and  common  human- 
it)';  and  both  these  attributes  come  from  God;  while  the 
allowance  to  whip  a  child  so  that  he  must  agonize  for  twenty- 
four  hours  and  then  expire,  comes  entirely  from  another 
quarter,  and  agrees  with  that  expressive  Southern  law,  which 
imposes  punishment  on  a  master  for  killing  a  slave,  "  unless 
he  dies  under  moderate  correction."  I  quote  the  exact  words 
of  North  Carolina  law.  What  representatives  are  such  teach- 
ers and  teachings  of  the  person  and  precepts  of  Jesus  Christ! 
Some  find  slavery  in  the  ten  commandments.  Let  us  see. 
First  commandment,  "Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before 
me."  Slaveholder,  "Thou  shalt  obey  me  alone,  and  not  know 
that  there  is  a  God,  nor  read  a  word  He  says  at  all,  unless  I 
choose."  Fourth  commandment,  "Remember  the  Sabbath  to 
keep  it  holy."  Slaveholder,  "  You  shall  work  every  day  from 
day-dawn  to  bed-time,  if  I  please."  Fifth  commandment, 
"  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother."  Slaveholder,  "  Your 
father  and  mother  are  my  'niggers,'  and  so  are  you;  if  you 
prefer  obedience  Or  regard  to  them  instead  of  me,  I  will  whip 
you  to  death."  Sixth  commandment,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill." 
Slaveholder,  "I  will  kill  whenever  I  please,  by  shortening  life 
by  hard  work  or  short  food  or  flogging  for  idleness."     Seventh 


46  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

commandment,  "Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery."  Slave- 
holder, "There  is  no  such  crime  from  a  white  man  towards  a 
slave."  Eighth  commandment,  "Thou  shalt  not  steal  ";  that 
is,  take  another's  possession.  Slaveholder,  "  I  will  take  every- 
thing that  my  slave  produces,  also  his  offspring,  and  every- 
thing most  dear  to  him  as  my  right;  I  will  deprive  him  of  all 
means  of  mental  improvement,  and  leave  him  nothing  but  a 
bare  existence."  Ninth  commandment,  "Thou  shalt  not  bear 
false  witness."  Slaveholder,  "  My  slave  shall  not  bear  witness 
at  all  against  a  white  man;  and  when  I  please,  I  will  torture, 
scourge  and  burn  him,  to  extort  such  witness  as  I  uant."  Tenth 
commandment,  "Thou  shalt  not  covet" ;  that  is,  claim  more 
than  thy  just  and  equitable  share.  Slaveholder,  "I  will  have 
all,  as  regards  my  slave;  and  no  contract  shall  exist  as  between 
him  and  me,  binding  me  to  what  justice  and  equity  require." 

Although  there  is  no  word  for  slavery  in  the  Hebrew 
language,  yet  the  most  exact  definition  of  its  nature,  and  the 
most  fearful  denunciation  of  its  wickedness,  is  contained  in 
Exod.  xxi,  1 6.  In  the  midst  of  the  list  of  capital  crimes, 
murders,  blasphemies,  etc.,  there  are  these  words:  He  that 
stealeth  a  man  or  selleth  him,  or  if  he  be  found  in  his  hand, 
he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death.  Here  we  have  getting,  part- 
ing with,  and  holding;  each  a  capital  crime.  Observe;  not 
stealing  a  slave,  but  stealing  a  man — a  human  being;  selling  a 
man,  and  holding  a  man.  Again,  the  fugitive  law,  Deut.  xxiii, 
15,  16:  All  kindness  to  the  servant.  Had  he  been  property 
they  must  have  given  him  up.  The  rests  and  recreations  of 
masters  and  servants.  The  religious  rights  and  privileges  of 
servants  and  those  of  masters.  Next  to  idolatry,  oppression 
was  the  burden  of  the  prophet's  denunciations. 

God  then  did  not  institute,  etc.  For  a  few  moments  I 
turn  to  the  new  argument  of  silence.  Oppression  denounced 
in  Old  Testament.  Christ  saw  none  in  Judea.  Christ  did 
not  rebuke  slavery,  nor  idolatry,  and  mentioned  few  sins.  So 
the  Apostle's  Epistle  to  Philemon  v,  16,  seems  for  the  very 
purpose  of  answering  these  cruel  cavils. 

Vandyke's  text: — No  rights  imply  no  obligations. 

Christianity  goes  ahead  of  this. 

Note. — The  conclusion  of  this  sermon,  it  will  be  observed,  are  simply  Mr. 
Aaron's  notes,  which  are  given,  however,  just  as  the  author  wrote  them. 


SERMONS.  4/ 


Ecc.  xii,  i :    "  Remember  now  thy  Creator  in  the  days 

OF  THY  YOUTH." 

I.  The  subject  proposed  for  our  consideration  this  day  is 
"The  importance  of  early  Christian  education."  About  six 
months  have  elapsed  since  I  called  your  attention  to  the  same 
matter,  and  several  remarkable  facts  that  have  since  transpired 
have  inclined  my  heart  to  feel,  my  mind  to  think,  and  my  tongue 
to  try  to  speak  to  my  fellow-mortals — my  dear  Christian  breth- 
ren, my  respected  and  respectful  but  too  thoughtless  hearers 
all — upon  a  subject  concerning  which  God  speaks  not  only  in 
his  word  most  pointedly  but  has  to  us  dealt  out  some  striking 
lessons  in  his  providence,  which  last  I  will  in  the  first  place 
try  to  show. 

Three  months  ago  it  pleased  Divine  Providence,  after  re- 
peated, long-continued  and  agonizing  sufferings,  to  remove 
from  this  life  a  child  of  two  beloved  members  of  this  church — 
a  sprightly,  thoughtless  boy,  just  at  that  age,  that  critical  and 
interesting  point,  when  every  Christian  parent  trembles  with 
the  anxious  but  vain  desire  to  know  whether  the  time  of  ac- 
countability has  begun  and  God  has  doomed  the  creature  to 
appear  and  answer  for  himself.  Yes,  my  brother  and  sister, 
when  you  bent  with  aching  hearts  over  your  expiring  offspring, 
did  not  these  questions  press  upon  your  souls :  Whether  Christ 
had  redeemed  him  without  a  faith  and  knowledge  of  his  own? 
Whether,  if  a  sinner,  you  too  must  answer  for  his  sins  and  bear 
a  portion  of  his  guilt?  Still  more  to  our  present  purpose, 
Whether  you  had  done  all  you  could  to  lead  and  to  devote 
him  to  the  Lord?  Whether  your  prayers  for  him  in  faith  had 
moved  and  opened  heaven  for  his  departing  soul,  and  your 
persuasion,  precept  and  example  had  led  him  to  Jesus,  who 
said  "Suffer  them  to  come  and  forbid  them  not"?  Ah!  when 
you  were  assured  that  death  had  set  his  mark  upon  him,  and 
when  in  those  last  hours  you  heard  him  call  on  that  Saviour 
whom  his  father's  prayers,  his  mother's  hymns  and  his  Sunday 
school  lessons  had  revealed  to  him;  when  you  heard  him  lift 


48  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

his  dying  voice  in  prayer  for  himself  and  his  young  sister,  you 
needed  not  man  to  prove,  for  God  by  his  providence  did  show 
you,  as  he  has  also  shown  us,  the  value  of  early  Christian  edu- 
cation. 

But  again,  a  more  striking,  if  possible,  and  more  painful 
instance,  has  within  a  few  weeks  called  on  us  to  hear  him  that 
speaks  from  heaven.  A  blooming  child  of  nearly  equal  age 
and  similar  character  with  the  other  is  hurried  without  the 
slightest  warning,  in  one  instant,  from  perfect  health  into  a 
state  of  laceration  and  suffering  beyond  the  physician's  skill, 
whence  he  speedily  passes  insensible  to  the  grave.  He  too 
had  parents  that,  in  a  judgment  of  charity,  feared  God.  They 
had  not  hated  their  boy  by  sparing  the  rod;  they  had  warned 
him,  and  watched  him,  and  prayed  with  him  and  for  him  in  re- 
lation to  the  very  thing  that  caused  his  death.  They  had  taken 
pains  themselves,  and  sought  the  aid  of  others,  to  impress  his 
mind,  upon  the  holy  Sabbath,  with  divine  truth.  And  what 
was  there,  now  that  he  lay  bleeding,  mangled,  delirious,  dying 
before  their  eyes,  to  comfort  them  but  the  fact  that  they  had 
endeavored  to  do  their  duty?  They  then  felt,  what  may  the 
Lord  move  you  all  to  feel  this  day,  the  vast  importance  of  early 
Christian  education. 

NoW,  Christians  fully  awake  to  duty  feel  the  truths  just 
urged.  And  shall  not  those  mortals  who  are  unprepared  either 
to  live  or  die,  feel  them  also?  How  merciful  to  this  commu- 
nity are  these  particular  circumstances.  The  fact  is  alarming 
and  most  wonderful  that  they  seem  to  feel  it  not.  O,  my  hear- 
ers, are  you  still  unwarned,  still  heedless? 

II.  But  let  us  now  observe,  in  the  second  place,  that  the 
word  of  God  is  very  explicit  and  pointed  on  the  subject  ot 
early  Christian  education.  This  is  denied  by  many;  insomuch 
that  many  persons  profess  to  be  justified  in  neglecting  the  re- 
ligious culture  of  their  children  on  account  of  the  silence  of 
the  Scriptures  in  relation  to  Sunday  schools,  catechisms,  and 
early  religious  lessons.  They  insist  that  if  this  were  a  cardi- 
nal duty,  as  the  Sunday  School  Union  and  some  preachers 
represent  it,  the  Bible  itself  would  be  full  of  it  in  plain  and 
pointed  terms.  Now,  it  must  in  candor  be  admitted  that  there 
is  not  a  vast  mass  of  Scripture  language  devoted  to  this  single 


SERMONS.  49 

point  exclusive  of  all  others.  But  let  us  examine  the  Scrip- 
tures fairly,  and  we  shall  find  the  meaning  and  authority  ex- 
plicity — clear  as  light.  Remember,  hearers,  I  speak  to  you 
as  believing  Scriptural  duties  to  be  most  important  and  fully 
obligatory  upon  us  all,  and  admitting  that  nothing  but  the 
knowledge  and  the  favor  of  God  can  make  us  truly  happy. 
Now,  with  this  admission,  look  at  the  law  of  love  to  man. 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  ;  and,  "Whatsoever 
ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them : 
for  this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets."  But,  again.  The  com- 
mand is  to  all  the  friends  of  Christ  (and  the  duty  of  all  is  to 
be  so)  to  make  known  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  Look, 
then,  at  this  precept.  Shall  we  carry  it  or  send  it  to  distant 
heathen  lands? 

But  the  great  argument  as  to  pointed  Scriptural  require- 
ment on  this  subject  appears  to  me  to  be  this:  While  God  en- 
forces social  duties,  commonly  in  general  terms,  he  mentions 
expressly  in  many  places  the  youthful  portion  of  mankind  as 
a  class  of  his  moral  subjects.  I  say,  my  friends,  while  the 
Lord  requires  repentance,  faith  and  loving  obedience  from  all 
mankind,  he  mentions  the  young  as  the  special  objects  of  his 
love  and  the  subjects  of  his  kingdom.  Now,  if  I  am'not  greatly 
mistaken,  the  young  of  the  human  race  are  far  more  distin- 
guished, as  a  class,  by  the  divine  word  than  any  other  portion 
of  mankind.  Neither  the  noble  nor  the  ignoble,  the  rich  nor 
the  poor,  the  wise  nor  the  ignorant,  are  designated  as  so  hope- 
fully the  subjects  of  divine  influence  and  blessing  as  those  in 
very  early  life.  These  assertions  are  proved  by  the  history  of 
very  many  distinguished  saints.  They  are  proved  by  the  pre- 
cepts delivered  to  youth,  or  concerning  them.  They  are  proved 
by  the  promises  and  encouragements  expressed  in  relation  to 
them. 

III.  Now  to  whom  can  all  this  authority  and  all  this  en- 
couragement apply  more  properly  than  to  parents  ?  Your  love 
for  your  children  prompts  you  to  do  or  suffer  anything  for 
them — except  to  bring  them  to  Christ.  To  satisfy  their  wants, 
kind  parents  will  deny  themselves  the  very  bread  they  crave 
in  hunger;  to  deliver,  if  possible,  their  little  ones  from  sick- 
ness and  pain,  they  would  gladly  suffer  in  their  stead — at  least 


50  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

some  tender  parents  would;  to  rescue  them  from  death,  a  fa- 
ther or  mother  would  rush  through  flood  or  fire.  What,  then, 
ought  your  love  to  prompt  you  to,  in  relation  to  the  dearest 
interests  of  your  dear  children?  What  wretch  would  feast, 
heedless,  while  his  child  was  starving  in  his  sight?  Who  would 
stand  unmoved  and  behold  his  helpless  offspring  dragged  into 
hopeless,  endless  servitude  to  the  most  cruel  and  tyrannical 
master?  Who  would  remain  unpitying  and  uncaring  while 
monsters  and  serpents  were  devouring  his  child?  The  power 
of  parents  involves  them  in  high  responsibility.  If  there  is  a 
miscreant  on  earth  pre-eminently  hell-governed  and  hell-pos- 
sessed, it  must  be  he  who  strives  to  pervert  the  heart  and  pol- 
lute the  soul  of  his  offspring.  And  Jehovah  sears  with  his 
hottest  wrath  and  loads  with  heaviest  curses  those  rulers,  hav- 
ing supreme  power,  that  made  Israel  to  sin,  and  those  parents 
that  made  their  sons  and  daughters  to  pass  through  fire  to 
dumb  idols  (Levit.  xvii,  21';  xx,  2-5). 

Do  you  object  to  my  assertion  of  your  having  power? 
You  know  you  have  supreme  and  perfect  power  over  their 
persons;  natural  influence  over  their  minds.  But  the  Lord 
bestows  upon  those  who  seek  it  the  highest  influence  over  their 
minds  and  principles.  His  direct  and  positive  promise  is  to 
this  effect.  Patience  and  perseverance  are  necessary.  A  pa- 
rent may  inflict  hard  blows  or  use  harsh  and  angry  words, — 
the  child  will  weep  and  tremble;  but  only  fear,  as  he  would  a 
wild  beast.  No  food  will  force  your  child  to  a  full  growth  of 
body  in  a  moment,  nor  a  day,  nor  a  year.  Your  labor  should 
be  directed  to  render  your  child  obedient,  as  soon  as  possible; 
obedient,  on  grounds  of  reason.  Then  that  reason  should  be 
exalted  and  that  obedience  improved  in  relation  to  his  heav- 
enly father.  To  accomplish  your  ends  much  private  discipline 
should  be  used,  as  the  divine  spirit  speaks  privately  to  your- 
self; "not  provoking  to  wrath."  But  you  still  plead  want  of 
power  and,  more  especially,  want  of  time.  Time  you  should 
take.  And  what  is  in  reality  your  greatest  difficulty?  The 
want  of  the  power  of  religion  in  your  own  hearts! 

Shall  I  here  call  your  minds  to  the  Sunday  school  as  a 
means  not  of  excusing  you  from  the  performance  of  your  great 
duties  but  of  assisting  you  in  your  labor?     You  will  allow  me 


SERMONS.  5 1 

to  speak  freely,  hearers,  and  commend  for  some  special  rea- 
sons our  Sunday  school  to  your  notice.  It  is  taught  by  per- 
sons mostly,  if  not  entirely,  of  serious  character,  and  many  of 
them  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  capricious  youth,  and  who  have 
long  persevered  in  their  efforts  to  do  good.  It  has  pained  my 
very  soul  to  see  the  neglect  with  which  our  school  is  treated, 
and  I  am  strongly  inclined,  in  addition  to  my  many  arduous 
duties,  to  become  one  of  its  teachers.  Sunday  schools  began 
among  Baptists  as  a  mere  matter  of  tolerance.  The  leading 
and  established  members  of  each  church  looked  with  suspi- 
cion upon  the  movement.  Hence  Sunday  schools  became  in- 
dependent. There  should  be  much  wisdom  and  great  forbear- 
ance in  bringing  about  a  different  state  of  things.  I  have  seen 
unhappy  results  of  the  separation  of  the  Sunday  school  from 
the  control  of  the  pastor  and  church.  I  feel  it  very  important 
to  have  a  pretty  strong  grasp  on  my  Sunday  school. 


Amos  iv,  12:  "Prepare  to  Meet  Thy  God." 

{Funeral  Discourse  delivered  July  16,  rSjf.) 

These  words  are  an  express  command  of  the  Most  High 
God,  and  are  connected,  as  you  have  heard,  with  judgments 
which  he  had  brought  in  terrific  form  upon  the  people  ad- 
dressed, and  with  the  threat  of  more  awful  judgments  about  to 
come.  They  are,  indeed,  according  to  the  mind  of  God  him- 
self, a  necessary  inference  from  his  work  of  executive  judg- 
ment; for  he  says,  "Thus  will  I  do  unto  thee,  O  Israel;  and 
because  I  will  do  thus  unto  thee,  prepare  to  meet  thy  God,  O 
Israel."  And,  my  friends,  this  is  the  conclusion  which  we  are 
to  draw  this  day,  for  the  heaviest  stroke  of  the  arm  of  God  that 
is  felt  short  of  the  eternal  world  has  fallen  upon  a  fellow-citi- 
zen, a  townsman,  a  near  neighbor;  to  some  present  a  kinsman, 
a  husband,  a  father.  I  am  not  mistaken  when  I  say  the  heav- 
iest stroke.     For  however  in  the  coloring  of  fine  language  we 


52  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

may  paint  sufferings  worse  than  death;  however  a  mawkish 
sensibility  may  moan  over  the  insufferable  anguish  of  wounded 
honor,  the  wreck  of  a  broken  constitution  in  which  the  fact 
of  life  is  only  ascertained  by  ceaseless  agony,  the  pittance  of 
an  alms-house  that  remains  to  him  whose  extravagance  has 
drained  a  hoard  of  wealth,  yet  the  light  of  reason,  and  still 
more  the  light  of  Scripture,  bid  a  man  survive  all  such  things, 
and  far  prefer  life  with  all  its  sure  and  nameless  ills  to  death 
with  its  uncertainty.  An  arrow  of  the  Almighty,  therefore, 
has  been  discharged — yea,  two  of  them — into  our  little  com- 
munity, and  the  old  man  and  the  babe,  the  ripe  fruit  and  the 
blossom,  have  fallen  and,  as  regards  this  life,  perished  forever. 
The  irreparable  breach,  the  voice  of  the  mourners,  the  nearer 
approach  of  our  own  similar  fate,  and,  above  all,  the  word  of 
Jehovah,  say  to  every  one  of  us,  "  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God." 

But  to  apply  the  words  particularly,  I  shall,  first,  address 
them  to  those  whose  only  hope  is  in  living,  not  in  dying;  who 
act  towards  God  as  if  their  only  meeting  with  him  were  to  be 
a  contest  for  the  present  life — as  if  they  were  determined,  in 
spite  of  their  landlord,  to  keep  possession  of  the  tenement  oc- 
cupied on  his  sufferance.  You,  my  dear  friends,  to  speak  plainly 
(which  is  the  especial  business  of  ministers),  are  found  in  greater 
numbers  at  a  funeral  than  at  almost  any  other  place  where  men 
dare  preach.  Many  come  then  to  a  place  of  worship,  out  of 
respect  to  their  fellow-creatures,  who  are  seldom  found  there 
from  a  regard  for  the  word  of  the  Almighty.  Well,  now,  my 
friends,  prepare  to  meet  your  God.  As  to  making  peace  with 
him  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  you  have  no  intention  of 
that  sort;  then  you  must  either  beat  him  off  when  he  comes 
to  remove  you  from  being  tenants  at  will,  or  you  must  buy  an 
inheritance  beyond  the  stars  with  the  treasures  of  good  works 
you  are  now  laying  up. 

Let  us  look  at  the  hope  of  the  present  life.  The  Eternal 
says  by  his  prophet,  "  I  will  take  vengeance,  and  will  not  meet 
thee  as  a  man."  When  a  man  is  about  to  meet  his  fellow  for 
purposes  of  vengeance,  or  in  self  defence,  what  precautions  he 
takes  to  be  thoroughly  prepared,  what  well  proved  implements 
of  death  he  carries,  what  friends  he  summons  to  his  side,  what 
firm  determination  to  his  heart.    But  when  Jehovah  challenges 


SERMONS.  53 

man  goes  not  forth  to  meet  with  his  fellow.  This  adversary 
sits  invisible  above  the  heavens.  He  sends  his  apoplexy;  it 
comes,  and  the  vital  stream  that  warms  man's  heart  forsakes 
its  channels  and  rushes  in  a  torrent  to  overwhelm  the  regions  of 
mind  and  sensation,  where,  like  a  stagnant  sea,  it  settles  down 
and  buries  deep  the  throne  of  reason  and  the  powers  of  life. 
He  commissions  fever,  and  the  lamp  of  life,  like  Nebuchadnez- 
zar's furnace,  burns  with  a  sevenfold  heat,  till  its  support  is 
wasted  and  it  goes  out  forever.  He  speaks  to  dysentery,  and 
the  numberless  tubes  that  carry  nutriment  to  flesh  and  blood 
are  closed;  corruption's  channel  opens  wide,  and  strength  and 
life  flow  rapidly  away.  Friends  gather  around  and  weep;  per- 
haps they  pray.  Science  appears  and  marshals  all  her  powers, 
her  instruments  of  cunning  workmanship,  her  opiates,  her 
stimulants,  her  drugs.  But  in  vain  are  his  own  strength  and 
human  aid,  for  man  has  met  his  God ;  the  silver  chord  is  loosed, 
the  golden  bowl  is  broken,  and  man  must  go  to  his  long  home. 

You  see,  then,  careless  soul,  the  unequal  contest.  In- 
deed, the  departed  generations  among  whose  tombs  we  wan- 
der, the  few  sad  relics  of  their  fate,  forewarn  you  and  imperi- 
ously urge  you  to  prepare  to  meet  your  God.  Those  who  lift 
up  their  eyes  in  torment  find  it  the  next  desire  to  that  of  their 
own  deliverance,  that  their  kinsmen  and  friends  might  not 
come  into  that  place  of  anguish.  And  those  in  Abraham's  bo- 
som would  feel  new  thrills  of  joy  to  welcome  their  survivors 
to  the  seats  prepared  for  them. 

But  to  return.  If  you  cannot  stand  it  out  with  God  in 
mortal  combat,  then,  like  the  king  who  thinks  he  cannot  en- 
gage with  ten  thousand  an  adversary  who  approaches  with 
twenty  thousand,  you  ought  to  seek  conditions  of  peace.  We 
have  already  agreed,  however,  that  you  cannot  do  this  by  sub- 
mission to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  but  must  effect  it  by  giving 
such  things  as  you  have.  And  as  the  Eternal  is  a  moral  be- 
ing, you  must  present  to  him  a  moral  offering.  Well,  what 
will  you  bring?  Will  you  attempt  to  exhibit  a  perfect  exam- 
ple of  moral  rectitude?  This  no  man  of  sense  dares  think  of, 
for  he  knows  that  he  has  often  departed  from  the  straight  path, 
that  he  has  often  given  way  to  causeless  anger,  that  he  has 
often  coveted,  that  he  has  often  given  way  to  vain  imagination 


54  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

and  thrown  the  reins  to  pride  and  envy.  But  do  you  not  pro- 
pose to  balance  accounts  with  God,  to  make  it  an  affair  of  debt 
and  credit,  assured  that  you  have  done  right  in  a  majority  of  in- 
stances; at  any  rate,  that  you  have  meant  well?  And  even  if 
you  have  generally  failed,  you  attribute  to  him  so  much  gen- 
erosity that  you  verily  believe  he  will  frankly  forgive  you. 
Now,  we  will  suppose  the  best  of  the  case;  for  instance,  that 
you  have  a  hundred  credits  for  a  single  debt.  Will  the  bal- 
ance of  ninety -nine  in  your  favor  buy  you  a  mansion  in  heaven  ? 
Here  a  thought  strikes  me.  If  it  will,  it  must  be  some  one  that 
Christ  has  not  prepared  for;  for  he  went,  as  he  says,  to  prepare 
a  place  only  for  them  that  believe  in  him,  and  love  him,  and 
follow  him.  And,  again,  your  mansion  must  be  in  some  part 
of  heaven  in  which  Christ  does  not  dwell;  because  he  said  to 
some  of  the  most  self-righteous  men  that  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  such  as  fasted  twice  a  week,  gave  tithes  and  alms  of  all 
that  they  possessed,  and  prayed  much,  "Where  I  am  ye  can 
not  come."  Now,  to  find  a  mansion  in  heaven  which  Christ 
has  not  prepared,  who  made  all  things  of  himself  and  for  him- 
self, and  to  inhabit  a  place  there  where  he  is  not  present,  of 
whom  it  is  said  that  he  is  the  very  light  of  that  city — the  New 
Jerusalem — must  be  extremely  difficult. 

But  to  return  to  the  ninety-nine  credits  in  your  favor.  Let 
the  prisoner  plead  before  the  judge.  "I  have  saved  one  hun- 
dred lives,  and  have  willfully  murdered  but  this  one  individual. 
I  can  prove  that  I  have  acted  honestly — yea,  even  with  honor 
and  generosity — in  one  hundred  instances,  whereas  I  have 
stolen  or  defrauded  but  this  once."  Would  the  law  therefore 
acquit  him?  Or  would  it  say  to  him,  You  have  done  no  more 
than  your  duty,  by  which  no  man  can  purchase  a  license  to 
perpetrate  a  single  crime?  Well,  does  human  equity  surpass 
in  strictness  that  of  God?  Examine  the  latter.  "Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,"  etc.  And,  again, 
"  He  that  keeps  the  whole  law,  and  yet  offends  in  one  point,  is 
guilty  of  all."  What  clause  of  reservation  is  here  left  to  en- 
courage impenitent  sinners  to  insult  the  Almighty  with  their 
claims  to  merit.  O,  hearer,  argument  fails,  illustration  fails, 
and  I  can  only  repeat  the  text  in  thy  ears,  perhaps  for  the  last 


SERMONS.  55 

time,  thoughtless  mortal,  mortal  hastening  to  the  judgment, 
"  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God."     Prepare  to  meet  thy  God ! 

But  I  come,  secondly,  to  speak  to  a  different  class.  You 
that  are  stated  attendants  on  the  sanctuary.  Prepare  to  meet 
your  God  there  with  more  sincerity  and  desire.  Prepare  to 
meet  him  in  your  closets.  Prepare  to  meet  him  as  one  that 
seeks  your  hearts.  "  My  son,  give  me  thy  heart."  Prepare  to 
meet  him  in  his  providences.  Prepare  to  meet  him  on  the 
throne  of  eternal  judgment.  Prepare  to  dwell  with  him  in 
heaven. 

Thirdly,  the  mourners.  I  shall  never  meet  you  all  to- 
gether again.  I  must  therefore  be  faithful.  Be  not  presump- 
tuous because  of  mature  age.  O,  seek  to  redeem  the  time. 
"The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away;  blessed  be 
the  name  of  the  Lord.  For  whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chas- 
teneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he  receiveth.  Now  no 
chastening  for  the  present  seemeth  to  be  joyous,  but  grievous; 
nevertheless,  afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit  of  right- 
eousness unto  them  which  are  exercised  thereby." 


The  Description  of  Sinners. 

i.  Those  that  are  in  the  way — the  wicked  or  trans- 
gressors. 

2.  Those  that  are  making  their  calculations — the  un- 
righteous or  lawless. 

The  first  act  without  much  thought;  the  second  are  phil- 
osophers, ungodly  upon  principle.  The  world  is  full  of  such. 
The  first  are  the  hands  and  feet,  the  second  are  the  eyes  and 
heads,  in  the  service  of  the  devil.  The  first  are  like  Jeroboam, 
the  son  of  Nebat,  that  made  Israel  to  sin;  the  second  are  like 
foolish  Israel,  that  obeyed  to  do  iniquitously.  The  first  are 
like  the  sellers  and  manufacturers  of  spirits;   the  second  like 


56  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

those  that  drink  them.  The  first  are  like  kings  and  rulers 
that  plan  wars  and  intrigues;  the  others  like  the  subjects  that 
fis-ht  or  execute.  The  first  are  like  the  citizen  of  the  far  coun- 
try  that  had  the  swine  to  feed ;  the  second  like  the  poor  prodi- 
gal that  was  almost  starved  in  feeding  them.  The  first  are  ra- 
ther the  rich,  the  polished,  the  gay,  the  honored — those  that 
must  have  religion,  if  it  is  absolutely  indispensable,  in  a  coach, 
a  fine  house,  a  fine  equipage,  or  high  office;  the  others  go 
their  pilgrimage  on  foot,  and  sweat  and  groan  as  they  trudge 
along  the  road  to  ruin.  The  first  seem  to  be  the  more  hope- 
less, because  the  devil  gives  them  better  wages,  better  fare. 
And  yet  we  might  suppose  it  would  matter  little  whether  a 
man  were  carried  in  a  coach  to  the  gallows  or  dragged  thither 
by  the  hair  of  his  head  ;  whether  he  were  suspended  on  a  tow- 
ering gibbet  like  Haman  or  hung  up  like  a  dog;  whether  he 
were  strangled  with  a  silken  cord  or  a  hempen  rope.  But  the 
gay  world  think  differently. 

The  apostle  Paul  thought  his  case  peculiar  that  he  should 
be  pardoned,  because  he  was  a  ringleader.  And  it  is  certain 
that  the  fate  of  a  campaign  depends  mainly  on  the  prowess  and 
honor  of  the  leaders.  Many  of  these  plotters  of  sin  are  not  so 
accessible  as  the  poor  and  undistinguished.  They  contribute, 
many  of  them,  to  the  support  of  the  gospel  ministry;  and  it  is 
thought  sufficiently  bold  in  the  preacher  even  to  hint  at  the 
possibility  of  their  errors  from  the  pulpit,  not  to  censure  per- 
sonally their  sins  and  charge  them  to  their  faces.  The  poor, 
thoughtless  man,  that  lies  expiring  without  attendants  or  the 
necessaries  of  life,  is  glad  to  hear  the  prayers  or  the  teachings 
of  piety ;  is  willing  to  hear  of  his  errors  and  acknowledge  them. 
But  he  whose  superior  mind  has  collected  money  and  pur- 
chased friends  is  not  approachable  by  the  humble  follower  of 
Christ,  who  can  only  bid  him  weep  over  his  sins  and  flee  for 
refuge  to  the  poor,  the  humble,  the  forsaken  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, who  had  neither  money  nor  friends. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  unfaithfulness  of  the  minis- 
ters, those  are  still  wanting  who  have  a  talent  for  convincing 
and  convicting  the  sinners  of  a  speculative  and  philosophical 
character;  and  whether  he  be  rich  in  purse  or  rich  in  self-esti- 
mation, that  man  will  find  it  hard  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 


SERMONS.  5  7 

God.  Even  Christ  himself  kept  aloof  from  those  who  thought 
they  had  no  need  of  mercy,  who  thought  that  they  were  right- 
eous and  despised  others,  and  his  gospel  was  preached  rather 
to  the  poor;  not  merely  to  the  poor  in  pocket,  but  to  the  poor 
in  arguments,  and  poor  in  self-righteousness  and  self-esteem. 


Rom.  xii,  I.  The  motive  to  action  is  "The  mercies  of 
God."  God  is  merciful,  plenteous  in  mercy,  rich  in  mercy, 
abundant  in  mercy.  We  hear  of  the  multitude  of  his  mercies. 
How  thankless,  hard-hearted  children  sometimes  reason. 
They  say,  my  parents  brought  me  into  the  world,  etc.  But  a 
poor  penitent  does  not  see  it  so.  A  good  Christian  does  not 
see  it  so.  He  sees  that  everything  he  has  is  of  God's  mercy, 
which  fails  not.  How  he  blesses  that  mercy  that  provides  for 
all  his  wants.  Is  he  rich?  Is  he  poor?  Is  he  absolutely 
suffering?  Is  his  reputation  assailed?  How  wonderful  ap- 
pears that  forbearance  that  spared  him;  that  did  not  suffer 
execution  to  issue,  and  cut  him  off  in  his  impenitence.  How 
still  greater  that  mercy,  that  not  only  spared  him  from  death, 
but  gave  him  life;  that  constrained  him  to  come  and  taste  the 
sweet  things  of  redeeming  love.  How,  above  all,  that  great 
adorable  mercy  that  pitied  dying  men  and  gave  the  life  of  the 
just  for  the  unjust.  Oh,  hard-hearted  man,  that  hearest  this 
and  does  not  feel  it;  canst  thou  feel  anything?  Present  your 
bodies  a  living  sacrifice.  This  is  figurative ;  and  like  all  Paul's 
illustrations,  apt  and  forcible.  To  offer  in  sacrifice  any  beast 
that  had  died  by  accident  or  disease  was  an  abomination.  But 
the  sacrifice  was  to  be  brought  living  to  the  priests  without 
spot  or  blemish.  Now  this  is  used  by  Paul  as  an  illustration 
of  what  the  Lord  expects  of  us.  The  beast  offered  was  to  be 
the  best  of  the  flock.  So  should  the  Christian;  so  must  the 
Christian  be  the  best  among  men.  Holy — that  is,  set  apart, 
probably — and  acceptable  unto  God,  according  to  the  descrip- 
tion given  by  the  Lord.  But  as  Christians,  you  are  to  pre- 
sent yourselves  as  sacrifices  before  the  Lord.  Now  this  is 
your  reasonable  service.  Now,  brethren,  if  these  things  be  so, 
you  are  doubtless  presenting  yourselves  as  living  sacrifices 


58  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

unto  the  Lord.  But  oh!  the  fact  is  far  otherwise.  In  the 
phrase,  to  present  your  bodies,  there  is  probably  allusion  to 
attendance  on  public  worship,  and  the  table  of  the  Lord.  Did 
you  not  solemnly,  most  solemnly  promise,  in  the  presence  of 
God  and  many  witnesses,  to  keep  your  places  in  the  sanctuary? 
If  a  man  were  to  neglect  all  these  things  for  the  purpose  of 
more  ardent,  private  devotion,  he  could  not  be  excused  be- 
cause of  the  deleterious  example.  But  a  man  never  omits  one 
duty  to  God  for  the  purpose  of  performing  another  better. 


Matt,  xxv,  46:  "And  these  shall  go  away  into  ever- 
lasting PUNISHMENT." 

I.  Punishment  a  part  or  principle  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment. Does  every  prudent  teacher  punish?  Does  a  father? 
Does  a  law-giver?  The  punishment  brought  on  our  world  by 
the  sin  of  our  first  parents.  Sin  possessed  all ;  the  woman  es- 
pecially. Reversed  by  Jesus.  The  punishment  of  man  ;  of 
devils. 

II.  That  punishment  is  everlasting.  A  tremendous  word; 
and  therefore  many  determined  to  explain  it  away.  Accord- 
ing to  the  word  of  God,  everlasting  punishment  is  just  as  cer- 
tain to  some  as  everlasting  felicity  is  to  others.     Why  so? 

First.     In  contrast. 

David. — "  Men  of  the  world,  which  have  their  portion  in 
this  life."     "  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  in  thy  likeness." 

Solomon. — "The  hope  of  the  righteous  shall  be  gladness, 
but  the  expectation  of  the  wicked  shall  perish."  "  The  wicked 
shall  be  driven  away  in  his  wickedness,  but  the  righteous  hath 
hope  in  his  death." 

Daniel. — "And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the 
earth  shall  awake;  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame 
and  everlasting  contempt." 

Matthew. — "  He  will  gather  his  wheat  into  the  garner," 
etc.  "Wide  is  the  gate  that  leadeth  to  destruction,"  etc. 
"  Many  shall   come  from  the  east  and  from    the  west,"  etc. 


SERMONS.  59 

"Gather  ye  first  the  tares,  and  bind  them  in  bundles  to  burn 
them."  "The  Son  of  Man  shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and 
they  shall  gather  out  of  his  kingdom  all  things  that  offend, 
and  those  that  do  iniquity;  and  shall  cast  them  into  a  furnace 
of  fire  :  there  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  Then 
shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of 
their  father."  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  net 
that  gathered  fish  of  every  kind;  which,  when  it  was  full,  they 
drew  to  the  shore,  and  sat  down,  and  gathered  the  good  into 
vessels,  but  cast  the  bad  away.  So  shall  it  be  at  the  end  of 
the  world;  the  angels  shall  come  forth,  and  sever  the  wicked 
from  among  the  just,  and  shall  cast  them  into  a  furnace  of  fire : 
there  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth."  "Blessed  is 
that  servant,  whom  his  lord  when  he  cometh  shall  find  so  do- 
ing. *  *  But  and  if  that  evil  servant  shall  say  in  his  heart, 
My  lord  delayeth  his  coming;  and  shall  begin  to  smite  his  fellow 
servants,  and  to  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken;  the  lord  of 
that  servant  shall  come  in  a  day  when  he  looketh  not  for  him, 
and  shall  cut  him  asunder,  and  appoint  him  his  portion  with 
the  hypocrites:  there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 
"Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  *  *  enter  thou  into 
the  joy  of  thy  lord.  *  *  And  cast  ye  the  unprofitable  serv- 
ant into  outer  darkness,"  etc.  "Then  shall  the  King  say  unto 
them  on  his  right  hand,  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  in- 
herit the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  *  *  Then  shall  he  say  also  unto  them  on  his  left 
hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared 
for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  *  *  And  these  shall  go  away 
into  everlasting  punishment:  but  the  righteous  into  life  eter- 
nal." "  He  that  believeth  on  me  hath  life,"  etc.  "  Blessed  are 
ye  when  men  shall  hate  you  for  the  Son  of  Man's  sake."  "  Re- 
joice ye  in  that  day,  and  leap  for  joy;  for,  behold,  your  reward 
is  great  in  heaven."  "  But  woe  unto  you  that  are  rich,  for  ye 
have  received  your  consolation."  "God  so  loved  the  world 
that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth 
in  him  might  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life."  "All  that 
are  in  the  grave  shall  come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  good 
unto  the  resurrection  of  life,"  etc. 


60  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

Paul. — Hath  not  the  potter  power  over  the  clay  of  the 
same  lump  to  make  one  vessel  unto  honor  and  another  unto 
dishonor?  What  if  God,  willing  to  shew  his  wrath  and  to 
make  his  power  known,  endured  with  much  long  suffering  the 
vessels  of  wrath  fitted  for  destruction ;  and  that  he  might  make 
known  the  riches  of  his  glory  on  the  vessels  of  mercy  which 
he  had  afore  prepared  unto  glory.  "Be  not  deceived;  God  is 
not  mocked;  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also 
reap.  For  he  that  soweth  to  the  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh  reap 
corruption;  but  he  that  soweth  to  the  spirit,  shall  of  the  spirit 
reap  life  everlasting."  "That  which  beareth  thorns  and  briers 
is  rejected,  and  is  nigh  unto  cursing,  whose  end  is  to  be 
burned."  "But,  beloved,  we  are  persuaded  better  things  of 
you,  and  things  which  accompany  salvation." 

This  is  a  contrast  in  a  variety  of  forms. 

Second.  The  words  of  Christ.  This  doctrine  is  clearly 
implied.  Jesus. — "  I  pray  for  them ;  I  pray  not  for  the  world." 
"The  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  be  forgiven 
unto  men,"  etc.  "  He  hath  never  forgiveness,  but  is  in  danger 
of  eternal  damnation."  "  If  we  sin  willfully  after  we  have  re- 
ceived the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  there  remaineth  no  more 
sacrifice  for  sins."  "  What  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  shall  gain 
the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul."  "Their  worm 
dieth  not,"  etc.  "  Betwixt  us  and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf 
fixed,"  etc.  "  He  that  believeth  not  the  Son,  shall  not  see 
life,"  etc.  "I  go  my  way,  and  ye  shall  seek  me,  and  shall  die 
in  your  sins,"  etc.     "Whose  end  is  destruction." 

Third.  Preparedness  in  this  life  is  necessary.  "  Seek  ye 
the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found;  call  on  him  while  he  is 
near,"  etc.  "Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time;  now  is  the 
day  of  salvation."  "To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden 
not  your  hearts." 

John. — "He  that  is  unjust,  let  him  be  unjust  still,"  etc. 

The  word  everlasting  is  applied  to  the  Supreme.  In  the 
next  place  the  nature  of  the  punishment.  Whatever  suffering 
is  most  intense  and  acute  in  this  life  is  used  as  a  figure  of  that 
to  come.  I  cannot  see  that  the  Almighty  uses  any  particu- 
lar agency  in  tormenting.  They  hated  God  and  loved  sin. 
They  shall  go  to  the  capital  city  of  sin's  dominions.     How 


SERMONS.  6 1 

much  more  a  refined  and  high-spirited  person  suffers,  with  an 
angel's  intellect  and  a  devil's  heart.  Do  you  not  think  you 
deserve  some  punishment?  Are  you  quite  sure  of  exemption? 
If  you  avoid  to  do  harm,  and  are  quite  sure  you  would  not 
have  used  Christ  ill,  would  not  some  of  you  be  very  much 
offended    at    reproof?     And  are  not  Christians  afraid  of  it? 

But  lastly.  Who  are  those  that  are  to  go  away  into 
everlasting  punishment?  Are  they  murderers,  robbers  and 
adulterers,  etc.,  alone?  They,  doubtless;  but  our  Saviour 
speaks  not  of  such  here,  but  of  those  who  have  omitted  to 
perform  some  of  the  least  imposing  obligations  apparently. 
He  speaks  not  of  those  who  had  done  any  harm — according 
to  the  best  codes  of  merely  human  morals — but  of  those  who 
have  neglected  to  do  any  good. 

Analogy  as  to  future  punishments  in  nature  with  Revela- 
tion, i.  We  bring  many' punishments  knowingly  upon  our- 
selves. 2.  They  come  in  consequence  of  actions  the  most 
pleasurable  and  temptations  the  most  overwhelming.  3. 
These  punishments  are  often  delayed  a  great  while,  and  then 
come  suddenly  and  unlooked  for.  4.  Even  "innocent  youth," 
as  we  call  it,  is  no  excuse  for  rashness  and  folly.  5.  The  neg- 
lect of  proper  seasons  brings  great  disadvantages;  certain 
bounds  being  passed,  irretrievable  losses  follow.  6.#  These  are 
not  occasional  consequences  but  fixed  laws.  These  then  are 
awful  analogies;  and  nothing  but  a  complete  demonstration  of 
infidelity  should  make  any  impenitent  man  easy.  Many  live 
as  if  only  to  show  the  horrors  of  vice  and  folly.  Though  men 
wish  God,  they  do  not  wish  earthly  magistrates  to  compel  them 
to  be  holy  and  happy.  The  Scripture  authority,  I  am  sure, 
was  found  overwhelming.  Now  another  truth  is  as  sure;  that 
every  one  in  this  house  unwilling  to  confess  Christ  is  exposed 
to  endless  death.  Be  not  diverted  by  Satan's  devises,  nor 
deceived  by  the  coldness  of  Christians.  "Examine  your  own 
selves,  whether  ye  be  in  the  faith;  prove  your  ownselves." 


62  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 


Omniscience  of  the  Lord. 

His  knowledge  is  perfect.  He  planted  the  ear;  formed 
the  eye;  teaches  man  knowledge;  darkness  and  light  the 
same;  all  things  naked  and  open;  knoweth  the  heart  and  the 
thoughts  afar  off.  He  is  infinite;  cannot  be  searched  out; 
looketh  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  and  seeth  under  the  whole 
heaven;  known  are  all  his  works;  declares  the  end  from  the 
beginning.  Times  are  not  hidden  from  the  Almighty.  All 
time  with  Him;  one  indivisible  eternal  now.  Our  knowledge; 
but  for  the  present  moment,  and  confined  to  narrow  bounds 
of  space  and  material  objects,  you  known  not  my  thoughts 
nor  I  yours;  hence  we  do  not  conceive  of  the  intense  power 
of  omniscient  vision.  More  especially  does  he  view  us  now. 
But  if  we  are  sincere  in  our  worship,  we  may  invite  with  joy 
the  unerring  scrutiny  of  heaven;  and  great  is  our  consolation 
that  the  Lord  is  greater  than  our  hearts.  For  "a  book  of 
remembrance  was  written  before  him  for  them  that  feared  the 
Lord  and  that  thought  upon  his  name." 

How  are  we  grieved  at  having  our  best  motives  misrep- 
resented and  misunderstood  by  men.  But  the  Lord  makes  no 
mistakes  nor  does  unjustly.  He  knows  and  he  appreciates 
our  charity  and  faith  and  patience.  He  loves  the  man  that 
loves  him.  His  eye  is  upon  them  that  fear  him;  upon  them 
that  hope  in  his  mercy;  upon  them  that  trust  in  him.  "A 
meek  and  quiet  spirit  is  in  the  sight  of  God  of  great  price." 
He  sees  our  true  humility;  our  contritions  and  repentance; 
he  counts  unto  us  for  righteousness,  our  faith  in  Jesus.  He 
enters  with  you  into  your  closets;  he  knoweth  what  things 
we  need.  He  knoweth  your  adversities.  He  inclineth  his 
ear  from  heaven  to  the  groaning  of  the  prisoner.  He  behold- 
eth  and  requiteth  mischief  and  spite.  He  knows  your  re- 
proach and  shame.  Be  this  then  our  prayer:  "Let  the  medi- 
tation of  my  heart  be  acceptable  in  thy  sight,  O  Lord.  Teach 
me,  O  God,  and  know  my  heart;  try  me,  and  know  my  reins." 


SERMONS.  63 

Very  different  is  the  case  with  the  impenitent.  They  put 
far  away  the  day,  and  either  think  God  does  not  know,  or 
forget  that  he  does.  As  they  wish  not  to  be  in  sight  now,  so 
hereafter,  and  loudly  will  they  call  on  the  rocks  to  fall  on  them 
and  hide  them  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb.  He  knoweth 
vain  men;  he  forgetteth  not  their  forgetfulness  of  him;  he 
knows  all  their  pretexts  for  self  indulgence.  But  dull  as  we 
are  now  of  sight  and  knowledge,  the  day  shall  come  when  the 
scales  shall  fall  from  mortal  vision,  and  we  shall  know  as  we 
are  known. 


How  Jesus  Spent  His  Sabbath. 

"  He  entered  into  the  synagogue,"  etc.  He  had  no  wel- 
come there.  If  the  rulers  rejoiced  to  see  him,  it  was  that  they 
might  accuse  him;  entrap  him;  destroy  him.  He  scans  the 
silent  workings  of  their  hearts;  mildly  and  effectually  refutes 
their  mental  reasonings;  disregards  their  bitter,  causeless  op- 
position, and  heals  the  poor  obedient  sufferers.  With  forti- 
tude and  self  possession  unknown  to  human  nature,  with  all 
the  talent  and  learning  of  the  land  arrayed  against  him,  at  the 
peril  of  his  life  he  entered  their  synagogue,  because  the  name 
and  word  of  the  true  God  were  there,  and  more  especially  be- 
cause poor  sinners  were  collected  there,  and  taught  and  truly 
spake  as  man  never  spake.  He  proved  it  right  to  do  well  on 
the  Sabbath  day,  and  sealed  his  arguments  with  a  deed  of 
mercy  demonstrative  of  God-like  pity  and  Almighty  power. 
Ye  Sabbath-day  sleepers,  dreamers,  loungers,  visitors;  ye  that 
press  your  beds,  and  indulge  your  appetites,  and  read  your 
novels,  and  crack  your  jests,  behold  the  example  of  your  Mas- 
ter. In  works  of  mercy,  disinterested  and  unintermitted,  he 
spent  his  Sabbath.  "  Is  the  disciple  above  his  master  ?  the 
servant  greater  than  his  lord?"  If  the  Master  worked  so 
much,  is  it  proper  therefore  for  the  servant  to  do  nothing? 

The  power  of  Christ  and  the  duty  of  obedience.  The 
same  being  whose  voice  resounded  through  the  void  and 
formless  infinite,  "Let  there  be  light";   said  in  the  accents  of 


64  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

mercy  to  the  paralytic,  whose  arm  hung  useless  at  his  side, 
"Stretch  forth  thy  hand!"  Quicker  than  the  word  the 
withered  skin  expanded,  the  shrunk  muscles  filled,  the  vital 
blood  rushed  through  the  dry,  cold  channels  long  forsaken, 
and  the  man  extended  it  whole  as  the  other.  He  was  obedi- 
ent; he  did  not  stay  in  the  obstinacy  of  sinful  human  nature 
and  pride  of  human  reason,  to  argue  the  impossibility  and 
absurdity  of  attempting  to  use  a  limb  over  which  his  volition 
had  no  control.  He  obeyed  and  witnessed  that  "Where  the 
word  of  a  king  is,  there  is  power." 


"Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way  and  the  unright- 
eous MAN  HIS  THOUGHTS." 

But  here  an  objection  is  made  by  some  that  they  cannot. 
If  you  mean  that  you  cannot  save  yourself  from  perdition,  and 
make  your  way  to  the  heavenly  paradise,  then  I  agree  with 
you  perfectly;  but  if  you  mean  that  you  cannot  give  attention 
to  your  soul's  affairs,  that  you  cannot  leave  off  sinful  habits, 
such  as  drunkenness,  profane  swearing,  lying,  fraud,  bad  com- 
pany, and  even  impure  and  sinful  thoughts,  then  I  differ  with 
you.  And  I  wish  to  convince  you  that  you  are  permitting  the 
devil  to  lead  you  captive  at  his  will.  The  common  under- 
standing of  mankind,  the  just  laws  of  all  civilized  nations,  are 
at  variance  with  such  a  sentiment.  When  a  man  has  been  the 
means  of  his  neighbor's  death  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  a 
musket,  or  has  unwittingly  pushed  a  beam  or  wall  upon  his 
head,  who  thinks  of  punishing  him  as  a  murderer?  But  where, 
having  planned  and  compassed  his  death,  he  attempts  to  ex- 
cuse himself  by  pleading  extreme  hatred,  or  a  bloodthirsty 
disposition,  or  overruling  destiny,  who  does  not  know  that  it 
aggravates  the  crime?  Who  believes  the  most  confirmed 
drunkard  when  he  says  that  he  cannot  quit  drinking,  any  more 
than  he  believes  the  seller,  who  says  he  could  not  but  give  the 
liquor  because  the  money  was  offered  ?  Who  believes  the 
robber  that  says  he  has  no  other  way  to  get  a  living,  or  that 


SERMONS.  65 

he  cannot  quit  the  practice  because  he  has  been  so  long  accus- 
tomed to  it?  Men,  in  the  accursed  indulgence  of  their  lusts, 
try  to  persuade  themselves  that  it  is  fate,  an  overruling  des- 
tiny, that  has  compelled  them  to  sin,  thus  charging  upon  the 
Almighty  all  the  causes  and  consequences  of  cjepravity,  and 
making  him,  instead  of  the  friend  and  benefactor,  the  foe  and 
the  destroyer  of  the  human  race. 

But  it  is  the  depraved  heart  and  not  the  rational  head  of 
man  that  reasons  thus.  Thus  Adam  reasoned  when  he  said, 
"  The  woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  be  with  me  caused  me  to 
eat."  And  when  Adam  spoke  thus  he  was  depraved  Adam; 
righteous  Adam  no  more.  When  a  man  is  dragged  to  the 
dram  shop,  tied  hand  and  foot,  a  tube  thrust  down  his  throat, 
and  ardent  spirits  poured  through  it  into  his  stomach,  the  act 
is  not  his;  he  could  not  help  it.  But  many  sins  that  men 
freely  indulge,  they  could  not  possibly  commit  by  any  agency 
but  their  own.  No  power  in  heaven,  earth  or  hell,  compels  a 
man  to  give  entertainment  to  sinful  desires.  They  are  child- 
ren of  his  own ;  or  they  become  his  guests  by  his  own  con- 
sent or  welcome.  "  Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the 
unrighteous  man  his  thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto  the 
Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him,  and  to  our  God,  for 
he  will  abundantly  pardon,"  is  the  command  and  promise  of 
God.  And  what  prevents  the  instant  obedience  of  every  in- 
dividual present?  Is  it  want  of  benevolence  in  the  Lord? 
He  does  not  lie.  It  is  the  insistence  of  the  human  will,  loaded 
with  the  weight  of  original  sin,  buried  in  a  mass  of  practical 
transgressions,  all  arched  and  coated  over  with  an  impenetra- 
ble crust  of  pride  and  carnal  policy,  and  polished  well  by  witty 
cavils.  "The  wicked  shall  be  driven  away  in  his  wickedness; 
but  the  righteous  shall  have  hope  in  his  death." 


66  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 


My  Friends,  What  Think  Ye  of  Christ? 

Have  you  ever  made  him  as  much  the  subject  of  your 
thoughts  as  you  have  your  own  temporal  concerns?  You 
have  thought  the  story  of  the  virgin,  the  manger,  the  miracles, 
the  cross,  the  resurrection,  and  all  the  recorded  wonders  that 
attended  and  followed  the  ministry  of  Jesus;  a  curious  tale, 
but  not  extremely  interesting;  in  short,  rather  dry.  Many  a 
volume,  pretending  neither  to  truth  nor  probability,  unfitted 
either  "to  raise  the  genius  or  to  mend  the  heart,"  has  rivetted 
your  attention  for  hours,  while  scarcely  more  minutes  have 
left  you  yawning  over  the  history  of  the  Redeemer.  Now 
what  is  the  reason  of  this  distaste?  Almost  all  of  us,  perhaps, 
quite,  that  compose  this  assembly,  are  considered  by  our- 
selves, and  many  of  our  neighbors,  as  a  decent,  good  sort  of 
people;  and  much  complacency  no  doubt  is  felt  by  many  of 
the  company,  that  they  are  not  as  other  men  are. 

But  I  will  specify  a  means  by  which  each  one  of  us  may 
determine  pretty  accurately  the  extent  of  our  goodness  and 
worthiness  in  the  sight  of  our  Creator  and  sovereign,  disposer  of 
our  everlasting  fate.  If  we  had  made  and  could  preserve  both 
ourselves  and  ours,  our  felicity  might  reasonably  consist  in  our 
own  good  opinion  of  ourselves  and  our  performances;  but  as 
another  Being  formed  us,  and  lent  us  for  a  short  period  all  that 
we  possess,  it  behooves  us  carefully  to  conciliate  his  regard. 
Now  that  Being  has  given  us  a  book  containing  a  brief  history 
of  his  dealings  with  men,  and  stating  distinctly  the  duties  we 
should  perform  with  all  our  heart  and  mind  and  strength  ;  and 
we  are  truly  good  when  we  delight  in  the  statutes  and  fully 
keep  the  commandments  registered  in  that  volume.  Now  a 
heart-felt  interest  in  this  book,  an  unwearied  perusal  of  it,  a 
decided  preference  for  it  over  every  other,  will  prove  us  good ; 
the  contrary  will  prove  us-  not  so.  The  Bible  is  admitted  by 
all  of  us  to  be  a  good  book  ;  by  many  of  us  the  best  of  books. 
Why  then  do  not  all  of  us  good  people  have  a  greater  relish 
for  this  eood  book?     The  fact  is  the  book  is  far  more  excell- 


,    SERMONS.  67 

ent  than  we  esteem  it,  and  we  much  less  so  than  we  imagine 
ourselves.  Its  standard  of  goodness  is  what  the  Being,  in 
finitely  good,  uses  for  his  measure,  and  our  imaginary  excel- 
lence it  treats  with  neglect  and  silence.  It  says  very  little 
.about  beautiful  women  and  brave  men,  ladies  of  accomplish- 
ments and  quality,  and  gentlemen  of  spirit  and  high  breeding; 
and  nothing  in  their  praise.  It  pardons  no  amiable  weakness; 
palliates  no  fashionable  vice;  and  aggravates  with  affected 
sensibility  no  imaginary  crime.  It  puts  little  distinction,  in 
point  of  worthiness,  before  God,  between  the  self-complacent 
moralist  and  the  notorious  sinner;  between  the  amiable,  un- 
believing lady  and  the  woman  of  abandoned  character.  And 
while  thus  it  places  all  on  equal  footing,  it  declares  the  proba- 
bility that  publicans  and  harlots  shall  go  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  before  the  esteemed  and  honorable  among  men. 

Now  these  are  not  as  agreeable  things  to  the  best  sort  of 
worldly  people,  nor  to  any  sort,  as  the  praise  and  flattery  be- 
stowed on  patriotism,  courage,  genius,  philosophy,  splendor 
and  beauty.  Have  we  a  novel,  a  history  of  any  description, 
a  review,  a  newspaper,  a  jest  book,  a  ballad,  or  even  a  dream 
book?  Ten  pages  of  any  of  them  shall  be  read  by  many  of 
us  before  one  of  the  Bible.  Are  we  not  ashamed  of  this? 
Alas!  no  one  blushes,  because  he  knows  his  neighbor  is  as 
culpable  as  he. 

Now  the  fact  is,  my  friends,  many  of  you  do  not  make  it 
your  meat  and  your  drink  to  do  the  will  of  your  Heavenly 
Father  as  recorded  in  that  book.  You  dislike  the  book  and 
him  that  made  it,  and  those  that  praise  it  and  tell  you  the 
plain  meaning  of  its  contents.  You  profess  great  respect  for 
it,  but  you  do  not  take  it  for  your  guide  to  heaven.  "All 
scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for 
doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction  and  instruction  in  right- 
eousness ;  that  the  man  of  God  may  be  perfect,  thoroughly 
furnished  with  all  good  works.  The  Holy  Scriptures  are  able 
to  make  wise  unto  salvation,  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus. 
These  are  written  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God." 

What  are  your  ideas  of  God?  I  believe  that  God  is  a 
being,  having  an  unchangeable  existence  from  everlasting  to 


68  REV.  SAMUEL    AAEON. 

everlasting — a  spiritual  being,  of  whose  mode  of  existence  we 
have  no  adequate  idea;  as  invisible  to  our  eyes  and  as  impal- 
pable to  our  touch  as  our  own  souls  are.  An  almighty  being; 
the  source  and  author  of  all  other  existence,  spiritual,  animal 
and  material,  and  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his 
power.  A  being  perfect  in  knowledge;  having  infinite  dura- 
tion with  all  its  events  present  to  his  mind,  and  infinite  space 
with  all  its  objects,  like  a  point  before  his  eye;  that  his  under- 
standing is  infinite,  discerning  and  ordaining  the  best  possible 
ends  from  the  best  possible  means;  that  he  is  absolutely  just, 
benevolent  and  holy.  "He  reigneth,  the  omnipotent  Lord 
God."  "In  the  beginning  He  created  the  heaven  and  the 
earth."  "  He  made  the  heaven  of  heavens  with  all  their  hosts." 
"There  is  no  unrighteousness  in  the  Lord."  "He  is  glorious 
in  holiness."  "  He  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  evil,  and 
cannot  look  on  iniquity."  "The  Lord  God  is  merciful  and 
gracious,  long  suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth." 
"The  earth  is  full  of  his  mercy."  "The  Lord  God  is  full  of 
compassion."  "  Yet  God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every 
day." 

He  has  revealed  himself  to  us  in  scripture  as  the  Father, 
the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  says  in  Isaiah:  "I  am  God, 
and  there  is  none  like  me ;  declaring  the  end  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  from  ancient  times  the  things  that  are  not  yet  done; 
saying,  my  counsel  shall  stand,  and  I  will  do  all  my  pleasure." 
"  He  worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will." 
"Neither  is  there  any  creature  that  is  not  manifest  in  his 
sight;  but  all  things  are  naked  and  open  unto  the  eyes  of  him 
with  whom  we  have  to  do." 


Men  have  many  motives  to  fear  and  to  love  the  Lord 
their  God.  He  is  infinitely  powerful;  he  made  all  things;  he 
is  God,  and  none  else;  has  us  and  all  things  in  his  hand,  our 
life  and  our  breath;  has  commanded  love  and  obedience;  is 
kind  in  the  gift  of  nature;  when  he  takes  away  he  only  takes 
his  own ;  he  has  every  perfection — the  only  perfect  being,  wise, 
just,  holy,  unchangeable,  eternal;    will  be  our  judge  and  our 


.    SERMONS.  69 

rewarder  or  pufiisher.  Rut  powerful  as  these  motives  are,  they 
are  outdone  by  one — his  mercy  through  Jesus  Christ.  "  In 
thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed,"  was  the 
most  glorious  communication  made  to  the  ancients.  And 
Moses  looked  with  deepest  interest  to  that  prophet,  etc.  The 
tuneful  harp  of  the  son  of  Jesse  sounds  most  harmonious  in 
the  celebration  of  that  glorious  Prince,  the  only  begotten  Son 
of  God,  the  King  of  Glory,  at  whose  coming  the  gates  were  to 
be  lifted  up  and  the  everlasting,  doors  opened.  The  lips  of  the 
son  of  Amos  dwelt  on  no  theme  so  grand  as  that  of  the  child 
that  should  be,  etc.  The  devout  soul  of  Daniel  prophesied  of 
the  stone  cut  out  without  hands,  which  was  to  break  the  king- 
dom of  earth  and  set  up  another  kingdom  which  shall  never 
be  destroyed.  In  short,  the  most  noble  theme  of  Holy  Writ, 
of  prophets,  apostles,  saints  and  angels,  is  that  Lamb  that  was 
slain,  that  Jesus  who  lived  and  was  dead  and  lives  again,  and 
reigns  for  evermore.  He  endured  the  cross,  he  despised  the 
shame,  and  is  now  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of 
God.  When  we  view  the  most  merciful  Son  of  God,  poor  and 
persecuted,  unfatigued  in  doing  good,  teaching  patiently  the 
dullest  and  most  perverse  minds,  and  consider  that  it  was  for 
us  he  lived  a  perfect  life,  for  us  he  died  an  ignominious  death, 
for  us  he  arose  and  ascended  in  triumph  and  now  stands  plead- 
ing, showing  the  scars  in  his  hands  and  feet — oh !  when  our 
eyes  are  opened  to  see  these  things  as  they  are,  we  do  not  feel 
unconcerned;  we  wonder,  as  rational  beings,  why  his  wrath 
did  not  destroy  those  murderers  suddenly. 

But  as  Christians  we  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory.  We  are  ashamed  of  our  coldness  when  we  re- 
member how  our  Saviour  wept  over  Jerusalem,  for  sorrow  that 
they  would  not  come  unto  him  and  receive  the  gift  of  eternal 
life.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  our  greatest  consolation  makes 
us  seem  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  an  unbelieving  world.  Glo- 
rious, figurative,  beautiful,  certain  distinction  between  him  that 
serveth  God  and  him  that  serveth  him  not.  Induce  a  man  to 
believe  in  God,  in  his  power  and  wisdom,  and  that  he  will 
strictly  and  severely  judge,  and  the  man  will  do  anything. 
This  is  the  way  of  some  alarmed  sinners;  they  would  give 
thousands  of  rams,  etc.,  their  first-born,  make  their  children 


JO  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

pass  through  the  fire,  make  pilgrimages  barefooted,  fast  and 
groan.  When  a  man  sees  that  all  these  fail,  when  he  under- 
stands the  perfect  obedience  required  by  the  law,  he  becomes 
rebellious  and  calls  his  Maker  cruel.  Now,  the  heathen  gods 
were  represented  only  a  little  better  than  men,  though  much 
more  powerful;  it  was  easy  to  be  reconciled  to  them. 

But  you  say,  Is  there  no  way  of  making  up  this  matter? 
If  I  say  to  a  generous  fellow-creature,  I  am  sorry  for  what  I 
have  done,  he  will  forgive  me.  Will  not  my  Maker  do  the 
same?  He  will  not.  But  I  will  never  do  it  again,  is  not  that 
enough?  No.  But  that  Christian,  or  David,  or  Noah,  or 
Peter,  or  Paul,  did  worse,  and  were  they  not  pardoned?  They 
were.  And  shall  not  I  be  pardoned  for  a  less  crime?  You 
shall  not,  unless  you  seek  and  obtain  forgiveness  through  the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ;  he  is  the  one  mediator  between  God 
and  man,  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all. 


The  Garden  of  Gethsemane. 

This  subject  is  of  a  deeply  pathetic  nature,  from  the  char- 
acter of  the  sufferer  and  the  cause  and  extent  of  his  sufferings. 
To  see  a  parent  with  hard,  incessant  drudgery,  and  patient  self- 
denial,  strive  from  year  to  year  to  support  his  helpless  family,  is 
to  my  mind  a  moving  spectacle.  But  he  has  the  smiles  of  his 
companion  and  the  caresses  of  his  children  to  soothe  his  toil, 
and  the  hope  that  they  will  support  his  future  helplessness. 
Men's  feelings  are  touched  by  the  recollections  of  the  father 
of  his  country  still  adhering  to  his  hopeless  duty  and  leading 
his  few  and  feeble  ranks  to  battle,  to  the  struggle  for  the  rights 
of  man,  while  they  tracked  their  way  with  the  blood  that  oozed 
from  their  unprotected  feet  and  marked  the  frozen  earth.  Men 
are  moved  by  the  resolution  of  such  heroes,  and  look  upon 
them  with  admiration.  Let  a  man  give  all  praise  and  grati- 
tude to  patriots.  They  left  obscurity  and  ease  for  toil  and 
honor.  Christ  left  the  throne  of  supreme  dominion  for  the 
lowest  place  on  earth.  He  had  no  country,  no  friends,  no 
rights. 


SERMONS.  7 1 

There  is  ground  for  strong  consolation  to  all  those  that 
flee  for  refuge  to  the  suffering  Redeemer.  These  awful  suffer- 
ings were  not  designed  to  be  thrown  away;  they  were  too 
great  for  that.  The  Lord  had  often  and  long  before  declared 
that  he  had  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  a  sinner;  and  now,  to 
stop  all  unbelieving  mouths,  he  confirms  by  dreadful  deeds 
what  he  had  sworn  to  before  in  solemn  words.  The  God  that 
made  the  heavens  and  the  earth  drinks  himself  the  cup  of 
wrath  prepared  for  guilty  men.  It  does  not  pass'  by  him.  O, 
thanks  be  to  his  adorable  mercy,  it  does  not  pass  one  drop  of 
its  bitter  contents  to  the  penitent  sinner;  but  Jesus  drinks  it 
all.  Therefore,  my  thoughtful,  anxious  friend,  let  me  press 
you,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  my  God,  not  to  be  faithless,  but 
believing.  Let  me  urge  you  by  all  that  is  interesting  to  you 
as  man,  all  that  is  honoring  to  your  Maker;  all  that  is  sweet 
and  cheering  in  hope,  all  that  is  black  and  dismal  in  despair; 
by  all  that  is  pure  and  lovely  in  the  just  made  perfect  and  the 
holy  angels,  all  that  is  blasphemous  and  abhorred  in  devils 
and  lost  men;  by  all  that  is  blessed  and  glorious  in  heaven, 
all  that  is  accursed  and  tremendous  in  hell;  by  all  the  terrors 
of  the  law,  and  all  the  promises  and  encouragements  of  the 
gospel;  by  the  stern  justice  of  Jehovah,  and  the  tender  mer- 
cies of  Immanuel, — that  you  rest  not  till  you  have  given  your- 
self up  to  Jesus  Christ.  Defer  not  till  to-morrow  what  may 
be  done  to-day.  Many  a  human  being  before  to-morrow  will 
be  in  another  world.  You  may  be  one  of  the  number.  I  saw 
a  man  dying  yesterday,  who  had  put  off  for  many  years,  had 
put  off  till  the  very  last,  what  ought  to  have  been  done  at  first, 
and  it  was  an  affecting  sight.  He  called  on  Jesus  at  times,  but 
had  little  or  no  assurance  of  hope  to  alleviate  the  agony  of 
death.  If  the  great  being,  who  shed  forth  the  glory  and  riches 
of  the  universe,  who  kindled  the  lustre  of  the  stars  and  effused 
the  dazzling  splendor  of  the  sun;  if  he  from  such  exaltation 
became  so  lowly;  if  the  sins  of  his  enemies  were  imputed  to 
him  of  his  own  consent;  if  he  became  a  reproach  and  by-word 
and  the  song  of  the  drunkard;  if  the  infinite  God  did  indeed 
submit  to  dwell  for  thirty-three  years  in  human  flesh,  to  live  in 
abject  poverty,  subsist  on  charity,  and  die  a  pauper,  then  there 
is  surely  encouragement  for  every  humble  soul. 


72  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

The  shocking  case  of  those  that  despise  the  grace  of  God! 
My  friend,  if  God  the  Son,  the  second  person  in  the  glorious, 
equal  trinity  of  God-head,  did  indeed  suffer  in  that  garden  of 
Gethsemane  such  agony  as  caused  him  to  sweat  blood,  such 
agony  as  made  the  first  impulse  of  his  will — his  human  will — 
a  strong  desire,  a  fervent  prayer,  to  shun  the  conflict,  do  you 
think  that  sin  can  be  in  the  estimation  of  the  Almighty  a  tri- 
fling matter?  When  Immanuel  agonized  and  shuddered  thus 
in  the  endurance  of  its  punishment,  think  you  it  can  fall  lightly 
on  the  sinner's  head?  When  Junius  Brutus  condemned  his 
guilty  son  to  death,  the  Romans  thought  it  an  astonishing  ex- 
hibition of  his  love  of  justice  and  hatred  of  transgression. 
What,  then,  when  the  Almighty  Father  condemns  his  innocent, 
his  spotless,  his  well  beloved,  equal  son  to  a  most  abject  life 
and  painful  death  for  the  crimes  of  others?  Christ  had  told 
those  who  came  to  see  and  hear  him,  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up 
from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  "  I  am  come  a 
light  into  the  world,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  me  should 
not  abide  in  darkness."  "  He  that  rejecteth  me,  and  receiveth 
not  my  words,  hath  one  that  judgeth  him:  the  word  that  I 
have  spoken,  the  same  shall  judge  him  in  the  last  day." 


"Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  Sin  of 
the  World." 

I.  It  is  most  shocking  to  reflect  upon  the  sin  of  the 
world.  Sin  made  man  flee  from  his  Maker.  Sin  drove  him 
from  his  happy  home.  Sin  blotted  an'd  deformed  the  whole 
face  of  creation.  Sin  brought  suffering  upon  the  very  brutes. 
Sin  brought  groans  and  tears  and  death  upon  mankind.  Sin 
has  let  loose  ungovernable  appetites  and  passions.  Sin  brought 
death  and  all  its  horrors  upon  the  race  of  man.  Sin  took  away 
all  peace  in  life  and  all  hope  in  death.  Sin  destroyed  all  claim 
to  heaven,  and  made  sure  and  certain  an  inheritance  in  hell. 
Sin  made  us  enemies  of  God,  the  only  good  and  our  only 
friend ;  and  servants  of  Satan,  the  adversary  of  God  and  man. 
Sin  resisted,  abused,  insulted  all   messengers  of  mercy  from 


SERMONS.  7  3 

God  to  man;  then  murdered  the  Son  of  God.  But  does  all 
this  apply  to  us?  What  was  the  beginning  of  all  this?  The 
eating  of  an  apple.  Did  you  never  do  anything  so  bad?  O, 
how  shall  I  paint  your  dreadful  state?  Our  way  through  life 
is  like  a  path  on  the  brink  of  dangerous  steeps,  over  slippery 
rocks;  we  may  fall  sooner  or  later.  O,  if  you  lose  your  soul, 
what  suffering  is  before  you  through  eternity! 

II.  It  is  most  delightful  to  hear  that  sin  can  be  taken 
away.  A  great  controversy  as  to  the  meaning  of  taking  away 
the  sin  of  the  world !  The  virtue  of  the  blood  of  Christ  is  cer- 
tainly sufficient  for  all  that  apply.  Takes  away  all  kinds  of 
sin:  David's  adultery  and  murder;  the  thief's  public  crimes; 
Mary  Magdalen's  sin;  Zaccheus'  dishonesty;  everything  but 
final  unbelief. 

III.  How  affecting  to  consider  the  means  used  for  the 
removal  or  cure  of  sin!  Incense  smoked  upon  the  altar;  blood 
of  lambs  and  fat  of  rams  offered;  Abel  himself  bled  in  defence 
of  truth;  the  deluge  came  upon  a  sinful  world,  but  did  not 
wash  away  sin;  fire  came  upon  Sodom  and  Gomorrah;  war, 
pestilence  and  famine  were  sent;  blood  of  children  shed ;  blood 
of  saints  and  martyrs;  death  universal  and  eternal;  the  Lamb 
of  God  alone  can  take  away  sin.  See  John's  account  of  him 
and  self-abasement  before,  him:  Unfit  to  baptize  him;  unfit  to 
bear  or  unloose  the  latchet  of  his  shoe;  Jesus' sacrifice  compared 
to  a  lamb;  offered  daily;  paschal  lamb.  See  then  and  believe 
that  the  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness — gross  darkness. 
But  a  message  goes  forth.  The  Baptist  in  the  wilderness  first 
proclaims  it  most  plainly.  John  is  like  the  morning  star;  he 
brings  the  light — its  first  streaks.  And  when  the  Sun  appears, 
he  cries  aloud,  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God!" 


74  REV.  SAMUEL  AARON. 


Ecc.  xi,  9:  "Rejoice,  O  young  man,  in  thy  youth;  and  let 

THY  HEART  CHEER  THEE  IN  THE  DAYS  OF  THY  YOUTH,  AND 
WALK  IN  THE  WAYS  OF  THY  HEART,  AND  IN  THE  SIGHT  OF 
THINE  EYES  I  BUT  KNOW  THOU,  THAT  FOR  ALL  THESE  THINGS 
GOD  WILL  BRING  THEE  INTO  JUDGMENT." 

From  fourteen  to  twenty-one  years  is  the  age  of  action, 
of  passion,  of  self-will,  of  needful  toil,  of  disappointment,  and 
of  deep  religious  impressions.  The  character  is  finished.  You 
have  lost  faith  and  confidence  in  others,  even  in  your  parents. 
But  young  people  ought  not  to  seek  exemption  from  paternal 
restraint.  Your  state  is  like  the  trees  in  bloom,  like  the  face 
of  nature  in  spring.  As  we  walk  abroad  in  the  season  of 
spring,  among  the  inimitable  works  of  Nature's  God,  our  senses 
are  indulged  and  our  imaginations  delighted  with  the  smiling 
beauty  and  the  rich  promise  of  the  scene.  The  genial  bosom 
of  the  air  that  embraces  us  is  perfumed  with  mingled  fragrance 
by  the  soft  sighing  of  the  western  breeze,  and  thrills  with  the 
melody  of  nature's  music ;  while  the  green  mantle  of  earth,  our 
fruitful  mother,  is  spangled  with  all  her  blossoms;  painted  by 
the  sunbeams,  God's  own  pencil,  which,  as  if  dipped  in  the 
rainbow,  imparts  all  its  hues  combined  and  simple  to  the  gar- 
ments of  spring.  Nor  is  all  this  profusion  of  fragrance,  of 
melody  and  beauty,  to  be  thrown  away.  Health,  peace  and 
plenty  are  to  follow  from  it.  These  flowers  are  to  bring  forth 
fruits  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  every  living  thing.  Such  is  a  faint 
picture  of  material,  irrational  nature.  You  will  readily  see  that 
this  picture  is  emblematic  of  the  reality  that  is  about  to  claim 
our  attention.  I  am  on  this  occasion  to  address  the  flower,  the 
early  growth  of  God's  intelligent  and  accountable  creation. 

In  you,  my  youthful  friends,  is  the  moral  hope  of  the  com- 
munity, the  religious  expectation  of  the  church,  and  to  you  are 
held  out  the  best  promises  of  heaven.  You  are  by  far  the 
most  interesting  objects  among  all  visible  things;  your  wel- 
fare, the  most  important  consideration  that  can  possibly  occupy 
the  human  mind.     Your  entrance  into  the  world,  the  protec- 


SERMONS.  75 

tion  of  your  helpless  infancy,  and  the  guardianship  of  your  ju- 
venile age,  are  the  cause  of  more  pain,  more  expense  and  more 
anxiety  than  anything  else  that  Providence  has  ordained.  Im- 
mense is  the  price  that  the  world  pays  for  you,  my  friends, 
whether  we  reckon  the  mother's  tremblings,  pains  and  agoniz- 
ing throes;  the  father's  sweat  and  toil ;  or  the  mutual  yearn- 
ings and  watchings  of  both,  which  God  has  made  a  parent's 
instinct  as  a  security  for  the  welfare  of  the  offspring.  How 
striking  an  illustration  of  a  part  of  what  I  say  is  found  among 
the  people  called  the  Shakers.  Do  we  wonder  why  those  socie- 
ties directly  become  so  wealthy?  The  answer  is  plain.  They 
are  comparatively  free  from  the  expense  of  raising  children.  I 
repeat  it,  my  young  friends,  you  cost  the  world  immensely. 
And  what  is  the  inference?  You  ought  to  repay  it  by  your 
industry,  your  virtue,  your  piety.  From  you,  as  our  vernal 
blossoms,  we  must  have  our  summer  harvests  and  our  autumnal 
fruit.  Let  us  not  be  disappointed.  When  the  late  frosts  nip 
the  early  buds,  and  the  half-formed  fruit  drops  blasted  from 
the  tree,  we  are  filled  with  regret;  how  much  more  when  the 
moral  growth  of  the  soul  is  destroyed  or  corrupted,  and  the 
tree  of  immortality  brings  forth  fruit  unto  death. 

I  have  pointed  out  resemblances  between  you  and  the  pro- 
ducts of  nature.  It  is  proper  now  to  state  a  most  important 
difference.  When  the  fruit  of  the  earth  fails,  neither  the  tree 
nor  the  plant  can  be  made  to  answer  for  the  consequences ; 
but  when  you  fail  to  produce  the  fruits  of  virtue  and  piety,  the 
blame  rests  upon  you.  "The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness, 
temperance:  against  such  there  is  no  law."  Young  persons 
are  more  susceptible  both  of  good  and  evil,  and  they  suppose 
that  when  old  age  comes  they  will  be  equally  open  to  relig- 
ious impressions  and  free  from  worldly  embarrassments.  But 
the  most  affecting  thought  of  all  is  the  neglect  of  our  heavenly 
Father  till  folly  and  vice  have  wasted  our  frames  and  consumed 
our  youthful  fire.  Death  may  claim  us  at  any  time.  To  re- 
member our  Creator  is  true  religion,  is  salvation  ;  to  do  it  now, 
true  wisdom.  Dear  young  friends,  you  become  negligent  of 
parents;  you  are  not  apt  to  think  whom  your  best  friends  are. 
You  like  to  be  flattered,  conciliated.      You  are  the  source  of 


J  6  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

intense  anxiety  to  your  connections  and  all  lovers  of  mankind. 
You  are  soon  to  occupy  the  stage  of  action  and  take  the  places 
of  your  seniors,  who  will  before  long  occupy  their  graves. 
You  possess  almost  boundless  moral  power.  The  text  asserts 
that  man  is  a  free  agent;  he  is  no  machine.  Gives  the 
reins  to  man!  Is  that  wrong?  It  is  delightful  news  to  the 
carnal  heart,  and  you  have  then  pleasures  in  life  and  in  sin. 
You  have  troubles  also,  as  you  suppose,  and  what  are  they? 
Restraint  and  disappointments.  But  you  have  many  pleasures 
of  sin  for  a  season,  and  you  roll  it  as  a  sweet  morsel.  What 
are  some  of  your  joys?  The  thought  of  youth,  the  flow  of 
spirits?  You  are  full  of  passions  and  ardent  emotions.  Let 
thy  heart  cheer  thee  now.  You  are  walking  in  the  ways  of 
the  heart,  enjoying  youthful  friendship  and  affection,  the  voice 
of  flattery,  and  the  glance  of  beauty.  Disappointed,  the  heart 
still  tries  other  pleasures.  You  tread  the  mazy  dance.  You 
indulge,  or  desire  to,  the  impulse  of  every  appetite.  Revel  or 
desire  to  revel  in  all  you  think  can  gratify.  The  sight  of  the 
eyes  directs  you  only  for  some  selfish  purpose.  "But  know 
thou,  that  for  all  these  things  God  will  bring  thee  into  judg- 
ment." 

Now,  young  man,  I  address  you.  You  have  had  your 
way.  What  now?  Remember  this,  "  God  is  not  mocked :  for 
whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap.  For  he 
that  soweth  to  his  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corruption." 
And  again,  if  ye  have  sown  the  wind,  ye  shall  reap  the  whirl- 
wind. Young  woman,  young  women,  you  have  had  your  joys, 
and  your  time  is  nearly  over.  Remember  that!  God  is  call- 
ing you.  He  says,  "  Remember  now  thy  Creator  in  the  days 
of  thy  youth,  while  the  evil  days  come  not,  nor  the  years  draw 
nigh,  when  thou  shalt  say,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  them."  When 
mature  years  come,  my  young  friends,  they  bring  judgment 
with  them,  often  pain,  poverty,  and  shame.  You  now  feel, 
generally,  a  cold  indifference  towards  God.  But  do  not  forget 
the  last  judgment  of  God — that  awful  day,  when  darling  sins 
that  we  have  so  eagerly  embraced  shall  become  a  dead  car- 
cass. The  judgment  of  God,  who  can  fathom?  Some  dread- 
ful earthly  specimens  we  have  seen  around  us.  I  wish  I  could 
comfort  you  all.     There  are  very  many  precious  promises  in 


SERMONS.  7  7 

the  Scriptures  for  you.  I  beseech  you  to  accept  the  offers  of 
mercy  and  to  make  your  peace  with  God.  "For  God  shall 
bring  every  work  into  judgment,  with  every  secret  thing, 
whether  it  be  good,  or  whether  it  be  evil." 


Isa.  xliii,  10:  "Ye  are  my  witnesses." 

By  precept  you  must  testify  for  the  Lord.  "I  am  with 
you  to  the  end  of  the  world."  Are  we  willing  to  do  this  ? 
Then  God  is  with  us,  however  humble,  if  we  are  only  faithful. 
Human  agents — women,  faithful,  pious  women.  One  woman 
preached  the  gospel  to  me ;  I  have  never  forgotten  it.  Pre- 
cepts are  less  forcible  than  example.  You  must  continue  to  be 
upright  and  sincere.  Angels  cannot  do  it,  for  we  have  no  par- 
ticular sympathy  with  them.  Christ  as  a  man  showed  this.  It 
is  impossible  for  human  nature  not  to  be  affected  by  a  good 
example.  We  must  continue  to  exert  this.  Great  obligations 
are  resting  upon  Christians.  In  what  manner  are  we  to  testify 
for  Christ?  As  if  we  believed  the  soul  to  be  immortal — act  as 
if  we  believe  it.  You  say  that  is  true;  but  what  particular 
thing  can  we  do  to  show  it?  Live  before  the  world  to  show 
that  we  believe  the  soul  is  immortal.  If  we  believe  that  with 
the  heart,  we  will  act  it  out.  A  man  who  lives  right  will  con- 
vince the  world  that  he  is  in  earnest.  Live  as  if  sense  and 
time  are  vanity.  Take  the  Christians  here.  Do  they  act  as  if 
they  believed  earth  were  a  vanity  merely  for  display?  While 
they  lived  thus,  could  they  preach  against  extravagance  in 
dress,  equipage,  jewelry?  They  want  to  secure  the  admira- 
tion of  the  ungodly  by  endeavoring  to  lower  themselves  as  far 
as  possible  to  the  standard  of  the  world.  Let  me  dress  well, 
keep  good  company,  and  make  no  sacrifices.  The  world  will 
say,  What  a  contemptible  man !  professing  Christ  in  the  church, 
yet  taking  his  glass  of  wine  with  us.  They  despise  such  Chris- 
tians in  their  hearts,  yet  they  praise  them  to  their  faces.  We 
should  testify,  in  the  proof  we  give,  of  the  blessedness  of 
Christianity. 


yS  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

First,  possess  it.  All  love  that  is  true  makes  no  outside 
show;  married  people  who  really  love  make  no  outside  show. 
We  should  show  our  sense  of  the  danger  and  guilt  of  the  im- 
penitent— a  nice  point  to  settle.  Have  you  a  friend  you  love? 
Let  him  know  your  concern  for  his  welfare.  Show  your  anx- 
iety for  the  erring — be  tender  and  affectionate,  being  moved 
by  Christ's  love.  Have  a  high  standard  of  holiness,  rather 
than  that  of  great  knowledge.  We  should  seek  to  be  perfect 
in  our  sphere  as  God  is  perfect  in  his  sphere.  Aim  at  perfec- 
tion— very  high.  We  must  practice  self-denial.  What  good 
will  it  do  a  man  to  wear  a  long  face  or  look  holy?  Nature 
tells  us  to  indulge  ourselves.  God  tells  us  to  deny  self,  to 
give  up  what  pleases  us,  and  do  good  to  others.  Those  who 
deny  themselves  most  are  the  happiest.  Some  say,  I  cannot 
do  this  or  that;  I  have  no  gift.  Sabbath-school  teachers  get 
no  pay,  but  pay  the  children  for  coming.  Selfishness  says  it 
is  Sunday.  I  will  hire  a  horse  and  carriage  and  drive  out  and 
look  at  the  beauties  of  nature,  or  enjoy  myself  reading.  Here 
are  children  perishing  in  America.  You  must  take  them  very 
young;  show  them  you  love  them.  You  cannot  force  or  drive 
people  into  good  behaviour.  Young  woman,  give  up  your 
party  and  go  to  the  home  of  the  poor  drunkard;  take  some 
gifts  with  you  to  comfort  and  soothe  those  who  are  suffering 
or  in  sorrow,  and  God  will  meet  you  there.  Visit  the  widow 
and  fatherless  in  their  affliction,  and  keep  yourself  unspotted 
from  the  world.  You  Christian  men,  who  have  your  thou- 
sands, help  your  poor  neighbor.  He  is  a  noble  soul,  but  poor; 
can  only  pay  you  five  per  cent,  interest;  do  not  ask  him  to 
give  you  seven  and  three-tenths.  Jesus  Christ  says  help  him. 
Throw  off  the  two  and  three -tenths ;  that  will  be  self-denial,  and 
it  will  prove  you  have  got  the  right  standard.  By  loving  our 
brother  we  prove  we  love  God.  If  you  are  wealthy,  have  a 
tender  regard  for  all  the  suffering;  help  them  to  buy  homes. 
Spread  the  table-cloth  of  God's  great  table  and  hand  out  of 
your  abundance  to  the  needy;  it  would  prove  that  you  are  in 
earnest  and  a  follower  of  him  who  went  about  doing  good. 
You  know  what  God  said :  "  He  that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor, 
lendeth  unto  the  Lord,  and  that  which  he  hath  given  will  he 
pay  him  again."     "If  riches  increase,  set  not  your  heart  upon 


SERMONS.  79 

them."  "It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Men  of  ability,  lay  off  hope  of  honor.  Suppose  you  are 
appointed  a  legislator.  Make  laws  for  the  widows  and  the 
fatherless;  strive  to  promote  virtue  in  public  life — this  would 
be  self-denial.  Be  all  that  is  noble.  The  true  Christian  has 
courage,  patriotism,  love  of  the  human  race.  Self-denial  we 
must  practice  if  we  follow  Christ.  Election  is  coming.  We 
show  our  religion  by  the  way  we  vote — pray  three  hundred 
and  sixty-four  days  and  vote  for  the  devil  on  the  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-fifth.  Our  voting  is  a  prayer,  and  when  I  vote 
for  a  drunken,  unprincipled  man,  it  is  equivalent  to  a  prayer 
to  the  Almighty.  I'll  vote  for  no  unprincipled  man;  no, 
never.  If  good  men  would  scratch  out  the  names  of  those 
unworthy  to  fill  public  offices,  there  are  enough  to  prevent 
their  nomination.  All  Christian  men  have  integrity;  they  sell 
goods  for  one  price;  there  is  no  deceit,  no  guile  about  them, 
and  they  will  be  sustained. 

My  friends,  you  have  professed  to  be  followers  of  Christ. 
Remember  that  "we  are  witnesses,"  and  the  thoughtless  read 
men  rather  than  their  Bibles.  Live  up  to  that  high  standard 
which  has  been  held  up  before  you;  take  Christ  for  your 
model,  and  God  will  help  you  and  bless  you. 


John  i:  9. — "That  was  the  true  light  which  light- 

ETH  EVERY  MAN  THAT  COMETH  INTO  THE  WORLD." 

I.  I  shall  endeavor  to  prove,  my  beloved  hearers,  that 
divine  revelation  is  the  only  source  of  light  that  man  has  ever 
had  to  direct  him  in  moral  and  religious  duties. 

II.  And  that  this  source  of  light  has  more  or  less  shed 
its  beams  on  Adam  and  all  his  posterity. 

I  shall  blend  together  the  arguments  for  the  support  of 
these  two  conclusions,  and  then  try  to  apply  the  subject  to 
our  own  particular  use.     Permit  me  to  notice  some  erroneous 


80  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

opinions,  which  it  is  hoped  my  general  arguments  will  refute. 
For  instance,  many  believe,  or  say  they  believe,  that  we  have 
an  inborn  sense  or  perception  of  the  moral  fitness  of  things ; 
that  is,  that  we  are  perfect  judges  of  right  and  wrong  as  we 
are  formed  by  nature,  without  any  revelation  from  God  or  in- 
struction from  man.  Others  believe  that  our  Creator  pours 
the  light  of  his  own  spirit  into  the  heart  and  understanding  of 
every  human  being,  and  distinctly  reveals  to  him  the  rule  of 
life  and  the  hopes  of  immortality.  These  two  classes,  there- 
fore, of  misbelievers  (if  we  dare  not  call  them  unbelievers) 
maintain,  or  are  bound  to  maintain,  that  if  a  child  were  born 
in  a  wilderness,  and  nourished  and  brought  up  by  wolves,  he 
would  as  infallibly  know  his  moral  duties  and  his  immortal 
hopes  as  Moses,  the  man  of  God,  or  Paul,  the  apostle  of  Jesus. 
I  shall  notice  none  of  the  particular  species  of  misbelief,  but 
proceed  to  state  most  solemnly  the  reasons  why  I  think  the 
aforesaid  doctrines,  and  all  derived  from  them,  are  far  from 
true,  and  that  the  Word  of  God  alone  is  the  true  light,  and 
that  it  does  directly  or  indirectly  enlighten  every  man  that 
cometh  into  the  world.  For  what  law-giver,  what  poet,  what 
philosopher,  of  very  ancient  times,  ever  pretended  to  discover 
by  his  own  reasoning  the  existence  of  God,  or  the  doctrine  of 
future  rewards  and  punishments? 

Two  of  the  wisest  of  the  ancient  heathen  declare  that  "no 
mortal  can  make  laws  to  purpose,"  and  that  "laws  are  the  gift 
of  God";  and  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  dif- 
ferent and  numerous  nations  of  the  earth  to  have  fallen  upon 
the  same  general  principles  of  moral  rectitude  which  their  laws 
express,  had  not  these  principles  proceeded  at  first  from  the  gods 
and  been  handed  down  from  father  to  son.  All  heathen  na- 
tions also  speak  of  an  ancient  flood,  of  the  origin  of  nations, 
and  of  the  divine  institution  of  religion.  The  part  of  the  world, 
too,  where  Moses  wrote  is  that  agreed  upon  by  all  other  an- 
cient authors  as  the  earliest  seat  of  learning  and  civilization* 
and  the  point  whence  all  knowledge  first  arose.  In  the  bewil- 
dering superstitions  of  all  nations  we  discover  traces  of  the  first 
principles  of  our  religious  faith — that  is,  the  rite  of  sacrifice, 
which  has  ever  existed  among  all  tribes  of  the  earth.  Now, 
this  universal  custom  cannot  well  be  attributed  to  human  rea- 


SERMONS. 


son.  It  has  been  a  costly  practice,  when  it  has  required  the 
choice  of  the  flocks  and  herds;  it  has  been  a  most  painful  re- 
quisition, when  it  demanded  a  darling  child  to  pass  through 
fire  to  Moloch. 


GENERAL    REMARKS    ON    SCRIPTURE. 

Bible  on  Wine  and  Strong  Drink. —  i.  Passages  that  seem 
neutral  as  to  wine  and  strong  drinks. — Prove  the  practice  of 
drinking:  In  Esther  the  banquet  of  wine  is  repeatedly  spoken 
of.  Job  i,  13:  "And  there  was  a  day  when  his  sons  and  his 
daughters  were  eating  and  drinking  wine  in  their  eldest  bro- 
ther's house."  Proves  fermentation:  Job  xxxii,  19,  "Behold, 
my  body  is  as  wine  that  hath  no  vent;  it  is  ready  to  burst  like 
new  bottles."  Ecc.  ii,  3,  "I  sought  in  my  heart  to  give  my- 
self to  wine."  Ecc.  x,  19,  "A  feast  is  made  for  laughter,  and 
wine  maketh  merry."  I  have  purposely  omitted  Canticles. 
Isa.  xxiv,  II,  "There  is  a  crying  for  wine  in  the  streets." 

Passages  seeming  to  approve  of  wine. — Gen.  xiv,  18,  "And 
Melchizedek,  king  of  Salem,  brought  forth  bread  and  wine; 
and  he  was  the  priest  of  the  most  high  God."  The  great  abund- 
ance and  common  use:  Gen.  xlix,  11,  12,  "Binding  his  foal 
to  the  vine,  and  his  ass's  colt  to  the  choice  vine,  he  washed  his 
garments  in  wine  and  his  clothes  in  the  blood  of  grapes.  His 
eyes  shall  be  red  with  wine,  and  his  teeth  white  with  milk." 
The  temple  service:  Ex.  xxix,  40.  An  offering:  Lev.  xxiii, 
13;  Num.  xv,  5;  Deut.  xiv,  26,  "Thou  shalt  bestow  that  mo- 
ney for  whatever  thy  soul  lusteth  after:  for  oxen,  or  for  sheep, 
or  for  wine,  or  for  strong  drink,  or  for  whatsoever  thy  soul  de- 
sireth,"  etc.  Proverbially  good:  Judges  ix,  13,  "And  the  vine 
said  to  them,  Should  I  leave  my  wine  which  cheereth  God  and 
man  and  go  to  be  promoted  over  the  trees?"  So  common  as 
to  be  taken  on  journeys:  Judges  xix,  19,  "There  is  both  straw 
and  provender  for  our  asses,  and  there  is  bread  and  wine  also 
for  me,  and  for  thy  hand-maid,  and  for  the  young  man,"  etc. 
To  cheer  and  nourish:  II  Sam.  xvi,  2,  "The  wine  that  such  as 
are  faint  in  the  wilderness  mav  drink." 


82  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

Passages  seeming  to  approve  of  wine. — Neh.  v,  1 5 — 1 8, 
speaks  of  bread  and  wine  in  connection  as  tribute.  Taxed. 
Mentioned  with  harvests:  "  In  those  days  saw  I  in  Judah  some 
treading  wine-presses  on  the  Sabbath,  and  bringing  in  sheaves, 
and  leading  asses;  as  also  wine,  grapes  and  figs."  Used  to 
strengthen  and  enliven:  Ps.  lxxviii,  65,  "Then  the  Lord 
awaked  as  one  out  of  sleep,  and  like  a  mighty  man  that  shout- 
eth  by  reason  of  wine."  Ps,  civ,  15,  "Wine  that  maketh  glad 
the  heart  of  man,  and  oil  to  make  his  face  to  shine,  and  bread 
which  strengthened!  man's  heart."  Emblematic  of  heavenly 
feasting  and  enjoyment:  Prov.  ix,  2,  "She  hath  killed  her 
beasts,  she  hath  mingled  her  wine,  she  hath  also  furnished  her 
table."  To  medicate  and  cheer:  Prov.  xxxi,  6,  7,  "  Give  strong 
drink  to  him  that  is  ready  to  perish,  and  wine  to  those  that  be 
of  heavy  hearts.  Let  him  drink  and  forget  his  poverty,  and 
remember  his  misery  no  more." 

Passages  favorable  to  wine. — Isa.  i,  22,  "Thy  silver  is  be- 
come dross,  thy  wine  mixed  with  water."  Extreme  of  want 
shown  by  mixture:  Isa.  xxv,  6,  "A  feast  of  fat  things,  a  feast 
of  wines  on  the  lees;  a  feast  of  fat  things  full  of  marrow,  of 
wines  on  the  lees  well  refined."  Isa.  lv,  I,  "Ho!  every  one 
that  thirsteth,  come  ye,"  etc.  Evangelical  figure:  Jer.  xl,  12, 
"And  gathered  wine  and  summer  fruits  very  much."  Jer. 
xlviii,  33,  "And  joy  and  gladness  is  taken  from  the  plentiful 
field;  and  I  have  caused  wine  to  fail  from  the  wine-presses." 
Dan.  x,  3,  "I  ate  no  pleasant  bread,  neither  came  flesh  nor 
wine  in  my  mouth,"  etc.  Hos.  ii,  9,  "Therefore  will  I  return, 
and  take  away  my  corn  in  the  time  thereof,  and  my  wine  in  the 
season  thereof,"  etc.  Zech.  x,  7,  "The  restored  shall  rejoice 
as  through  wine."  Luke  vii,  33,  34,  "John  the  Baptist  came 
neither  eating  bread  nor  drinking  wine,"  etc.  John  ii,  3,  9,  10, 
"When  they  wanted  wine,  the  mother  of  Jesus  saith  to  him, 
They  have  no  wine";  "When  the  ruler  of  the  feast  had  tasted 
the  water  that  was  made  wine,"  etc.;  "Every  man  at  the  be- 
ginning doth  set  forth  good  wine,"  etc.  I  Tim.  v,  23,  "Drink 
no  longer  water,  but  use  a  little  wine,"  etc. 

Passages  unfavorable  to  the  use  of  such  drinks. — The 
drunkenness  and  denunciation:  Gen.  ix,  20,  "And  Noah 
planted  a  vineyard.      And   he  drank  of  the  wine,  and  was 


SERMONS.  83 

drunken."  Gen.  xix,  32.  Num.  vi,  3,  of  the  Nazarite,  "  He 
shall  separate  himself  from  wine  and  strong  drink,  and  shall 
drink  no  vinegar  of  wine,  nor  vinegar  of  strong  drink  ;  neither 
shall  he  drink  any  liquor  of  grapes,"  etc.  A  good  definition 
of  modern  wines:  Deut.  xxxii,  32,  33,  "  For  their  vine  is  of  the 
vine  of  Sodom,  and  of  the  fields  of  Gomorrah :  their  grapes  are 
grapes  of  gall,  their  clusters  are  bitter:  their  wine  is  the  poi- 
son of  dragons,  and  the  cruel  venom  of  asps." 

Passages  against  wine. — I  Sam.  i,  14,  "And  Eli  said  to 
her,  How  long  wilt  thou  be  drunken?  Put  away  thy  wine 
from  thee."  A  good  description  of  being  drunk  and  getting 
sober:  I  Sam.  xxv,  36,  $J,  "  Nabal's  heart  was  merry  within 
him,  for  he  was  very  drunken:  and  it  came  to  pass  in  the 
morning,  when  the  wine  was  gone  out  of  Nabal,  and  his  wife 
had  told  him  these  things,  that  his  heart  died  within  him,  and 
he  became  as  a  stone."  The  stimulus  to  sin:  II  Sam.  xiii,  28, 
"Now  Absalom  had  commanded  his  servants,  saying,  Mark 
ye  now  when  Amnon's  heart  is  merry  with  wine,  and  when  I 
say  unto  you,  Smite  Amnon ;  then  kill  him,  fear  not:  have 
not  I  commanded  you?  be  courageous;  fear  not."  A  family 
quarrel:  Esther  i,  10,  "On  the  seventh  day,  when  the  heart  of 
the  king  was  merry  with  wine,  he  commanded  to  bring  Vashti 
the  queen  before  the  king,  to  show  the  people  and  the  princes 
her  beauty."  Emblem  of  Jehovah's  wrath:  Ps.  lxxv,  8,  "For 
in  the  hand  of  the  Lord  there  is  a  cup,  and  the  wine  is  red;  it 
is  full  of  mixture;  and  he  poureth  out  of  the  same:  but  the 
dregs  thereof,  all  the  wicked  shall  wring  them  out,  and  drink 
them."  Prov.  xx,  i,  "Wine  is  a  mocker,  strong  drink  is  rag- 
ing; and  whosoever  is  deceived  thereby  is  not  wise."  Prov. 
xxiii,  29-32,  "Who  hath  woe?  who  hath  sorrow?  who  hath 
contentions?  who  hath  babblings?  who  hath  wounds  without 
cause?  who  hath  redness  of  eyes?  They  that  tarry  long  at 
the  wine.  *  *  Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it  is  red. 
*  *  At  the  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent,  and  stingeth  like  an 
adder."  Fashionable  and  respectable  drinking:  Trov.  xxxi, 
4,  5,  "It  is  not  for  kings,  O  Lemuel,  it  is  not  for  kings  to  drink 
wine,  nor  for  princes  strong  drink:  lest  they  drink,  and  for- 
get the  law,  and  pervert  the  judgment  of  any  of  the  afflicted." 
Isa.  v,  11,  12,  "Woe  unto  them  that  rise  up  early  in  the  morn- 


84  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

ing,  that  they  may  follow  strong  drink;  that  continue  until 
night,  till  wine  inflame  them!  And  the  harp  and  the  viol,  and 
the  tabret  and  pipe,  and  wine,  are  in  their  feasts,"  etc.  Isa.  v, 
22,  "Woe  unto  them  that  are  mighty  to  drink  wine,"  etc. 

Clerical  and  priestly  drinking:  Isa.  xxviii,  1,  7,  "Woe  to 
the  crown  of  pride,  to  the  drunkards,"  etc.  "They  also  have 
erred  through  wine,  and  through  strong  drink  are  out  of  the 
way;  the  priest  and  the  prophet  have  erred  through  strong 
drink,  they  are  swallowed  up  of  wine,  they  are  out  of  the  way 
through  strong  drink,"  etc.  Isa.  lvi,  10-12,  "  His  watchmen 
are  blind:  *  *  they  are  all  ignorant,  they  are  all 
dumb  dogs.  *  *  Yea,  they  are  greedy  dogs  which 
can  never  have  enough.  *  *  Come  ye,  say  they,  I 
will  fetch  wine,  and  we  will  fill  ourselves  with  strong  drink." 
Jer.  xxiii,  9,  "Mine  heart  within  me  is  broken  because  of  the 
prophets;  all  my  bones  shake:  I  am  like  a  drunken  man,  and 
like  a  man  whom  wine  hath  overcome."  Emblem  of  the  wrath 
of  God:  Jer.  xxv,  15,  "For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel: 
Take  the  wine  cup  of  this  fury  at  my  hand,  and  cause  all  the 
nations,  to  whom  I  send  thee,  to  drink  it."  Jer.  xxxv,  the 
Rechabites;  blessing  of  God.  Curse  of  God :  Jer.  li,  7,  "  Baby- 
lon hath  been  a  golden  cup  in  the  Lord's  hand,  that  made  all 
the  earth  drunken:  the  nations  have  drunken  of  her  wine; 
therefore  the  nations  are  mad."  Daniel's  scruple:  Dan.  i,  8, 
"Daniel  purposed  in  his  heart  that  he  would  not  defile  himself 
with  the  portion  of  the  king's  meat,  nor  with  the  wine  which 
he  drank.'" 

Fashionable,  genteel  drinking:  Dan.  v,  Belshazzar's  fatal 
feast.  Joel  i,  v,  "Awake,  ye  drunkards,  and  weep;  and  howl, 
all  ye  drinkers  of  wine,  because  of  the  new  wine;  for  it  is  cut 
off  from  your  mouth."  Joel  iii,  3,  "And  they  have  cast  lots 
for  my  people;  and  have  given  a  boy  for  a  hariot,  and  sold  a 
girl  for  wine,  that  they  may  drink."  Amos  vi,  4,  6,  "  Lie  upon 
beds  of  ivory,  and  stretch  themselves  upon  their  couches,  and 
eat  the  lambs  out  of  the  flock,"  etc.  "That  drink  wine  in 
bowls,"  etc.  Micah  ii,  1 1,  "  If  a  man  walking  in  the  spirit  and 
falsehood  do  lie,  saying,  I  will  prophesy  unto  thee  of  wine  and 
of  strong  drink;  he  shall  even  be  the  prophet  of  this  people." 


SERMONS.  85 

The  traffic.  Adverse  to  strong  drink:  Hab.  ii,  15,  "Woe 
unto  him  that  giveth  his  neighbor  drink,  that  puttest  thy  bot- 
tle to  him,  and  makest  him  drunken,"  etc.  Eph.  v,  18,  "And 
be  not  drunk  with  wine,  wherein  is  excess,"  etc.  I  Tim.  iii,  3, 
8,  "A  bishop  must  not  be  given  to  wine."  "A  deacon  not 
given  to  much  wine."  Titus  i,  7,  "A  bishop  not  given  to 
wine."  Titus  ii,  3,  "The  aged  women  must  not  be  given  to 
much  wine."  I  Pet.  iv,  3,  "For  the  time  past  of  our  life  may 
suffice  us  to  have  wrought  the  will  of  the  Gentiles,  when  we 
walked  in  lusts,  excess  of  wine,"  etc.  Tremendous  curse  of 
God:  Rev.  xvi,  19,  "The  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness  of 
his  wrath."  Rev.  xvii,  2,  "The  wine  of  Babylon,"  etc.  Rev. 
xiv,  10,  "The  worshipper  of  the  beast  shall  drink  of  the  wine 
of  the  wrath  of  God,  which  is  poured  out  without  mixture  into 
the  cup  of  his  indignation."  I  Cor.  x,  21,  "Ye  cannot  drink 
the  cup  of  the  Lord,  and  the  cup  of  devils." 


Quotations  Respecting  Omnipotence. 

Creation. — "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and 
the  earth."  He  spake,  and  it  was  done.  Vastness  and  variety. 
— "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God.  He  spreadeth  out 
the  heavens,  and  treadeth  on  the  waves  of  the  sea;  he  maketh 
Arcturus,  Orion,  and  Pleiades,  and  the  chambers  of  the  south; 
he  doeth  great  things,  past  finding  out :  yea,  and  wonders  with- 
out number.  He  stretcheth  out  the  north  over  the  empty 
place,  and  hangeth  the  earth  upon  nothing.  He  bindeth  up 
the  waters  in  the  thick  clouds,  and  the  cloud  is  not  rent  under 
them;  he  hath  compassed  the  waters  with  bounds,  until  the 
day  and  night  come  to  an  end."  The  ease  with  which  he 
works,  etc. — "  He  brake  up  for  the  sea  a  decreed  place,  and 
set  bars  and  doors,  and  said,  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  and 
no  further,  etc.  He  looketh  to  the  end  of  the  earth,  and  seeth 
under  the  whole  heaven  to  make  the  weight  for  the  winds;  to 
weigh  the  waters  by  measure;  to  make  a  decree  for  the  rain, 
and  a  way  for  the  lightning  of  the  thunder.     Who  hath  mea- 


86  KEV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

sured  the  waters  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand,  meted  out  heaven 
with  a  span,  comprehended  the  dust  of  the  earth  in  a  measure, 
weighed  the  mountains  in  scales,  and  the  hills  in  a  balance?" 

His  terrible  power. — "The  pillars  of  heaven  tremble,  and 
are  astonished  at  his  reproof;  he  divideth  the  sea  by  his  power. 
He  removeth  the  mountains,  and  they  know  it  not.  He  over- 
turned: them  in  his  anger,  he  shaketh  the  earth  out  of  her 
place,  and  the  pillars  thereof  tremble ;  he  commandeth  the  sun, 
and  it  riseth  not,  and  sealeth  up  the  stars."  Subjection  of  all 
creatures. — "He  maketh  his  angels  spirits,  and  his  ministers  a 
flame  of  fire.  They  veil  their  faces  before  his  throne.  It  is  he 
that  sitteth  upon  the  circle  of  the  earth,  and  the  inhabitants  are 
as  grasshoppers,  as  the  dust  of  the  balance,  less  than  nothing, 
and  vanity.  He  bringeth  princes  to  nothing;  he  setteth  up 
one  and  putteth  down  another;  the  angels  that  sinned  he  cast 
down  to  hell,  and  delivered  them  into  chains  of  darkness,  to 
be  reserved  unto  judgment."  The  closing  scene. — The  dead 
of  all  ages  shall  hear  his  voice.  The  sea  shall  give  up  the  dead 
which  are  in  it.  "And  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  na- 
tions, and  he  shall  separate  them  one  from  another.  Then 
shall  the  king  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand,  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  you 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  Then  shall  he  say  also  unto 
them  on  the  left  hand,  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  ever- 
lasting fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  And  these 
shall  go  into  everlasting  punishment,  but  the  righteous  into 
life  eternal."  The  power  of  these  amazing  views  consist  in 
their  truth. 

Contrast  with  heathen  or  uninspired  productions. 

Cleanthus,  the  stoic. — "  Hail,  O  Jupiter,  most  glorious  of 
the  immortals,  invoked  under  many  names,  always  most  pow- 
erful, the  first  ruler  of  nature,  whose  laws  govern  all  things. 
Hail !  for  to  address  thee  is  permitted  to  all  mortals,  for  our 
race  we  have  from  thee;  we  mortals  who  creep  upon  the 
ground,  receiving  only  the  echo  of  thy  voice.  I,  therefore,  I 
will  celebrate  thee,  and  will  always  sing  thy  power.  All  this 
universe  rolling  round  the  earth  obeys  thee  wherever  thou 
guidest,  and  willingly  is  governed  by  thee.  So  vehement,  so 
fiery,  so  immortal  is  the  thunder  which  thou  holdest  in  thy  un- 


SERMONS.  8/ 

shaken  hands;  for  by  the  stroke  of  this  all  nature  was  rooted; 
by  this,  thou  directest  the  common  reason  which  pervades  all 
things  mixed  with  the  greater  and  lesser  luminaries,  so  great 
a  king  art  thou  supreme  through  all;  nor  does  any  work  take 
place  without  thee  in  the  earth,  nor  in  the  ethereal  sky,  nor  in 
the  sea,  except  that  the  bad  perform  in  their  own  folly.  But 
do  thou,  O  Jupiter,  ruler  of  the  thunder,  defend  mortals  from 
dismal  misfortune,  which  dispel,  O  Father,  from  the  soul;  and 
grant  it  to  attain  that  judgment,  trusting  to  which  thou  gov- 
ernest  all  things  with  justice;  that  being  honored,  we  may  re- 
pay thee  with  honor,  singing  continually  thy  works,  since  there 
is  no  greater  meed  to  men  nor  gods  than  to  celebrate  justly 
the  universal  law." 

Omnipresence  stated  in  Scripture. — "Whither  shall  I  go 
from  thy  spirit?  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence?" 
etc.     "  In  him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being." 


Mark  viii,  36:  "What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain 

THE  WHOLE  WORLD  AND  LOSE  HIS  OWN  SOUL." 

The  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  has  one  transcendent  supe- 
riority over  all  others:  it  has  nothing  whatever  belonging  to 
it  calculated  to  make  hypocrites.  Men  may  charge  this  sin 
upon  the  professed  friends  of  Christ,  but  they  cannot  charge 
the  temptation  to  commit  it  upon  Christ  himself.  For  the  pre- 
scribed service  of  Christ  is,  in  the  opinion  of  the  world,  hard 
labor  for  life;  a  forfeiture  of  property,  reputation  and  life  it- 
self, without  any  valuable  or  substantial  reward;  the  giving  up 
all  we  have,  and  nothing  to  show  for  it.  The  sincerest  and 
most  devoted  friends  of  Christ  have  never  pretended  that  they 
expected  any  other  reward  than  that,  that  impenitent  persons 
consider  wholly  ideal,  "  Faith  the  substance  of  things  hoped 
for,  and  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen;  and  hope  that  is  with 
patience  waited  for,"  and  that  maketh,as  the  Christian  believes 
and  trusts,  not  ashamed. 


88  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Dan.  vi,  10:  "Now  when  Daniel  knew  that  the  writ- 
ing WAS  SIGNED,  HE  WENT  INTO  HIS  HOUSE;  AND  HIS  WINDOWS 
BEING  OPENED  IN  HIS  CHAMBER  TOWARD  JERUSALEM,  HE  KNEELED 
UPON  HIS  KNEES  THREE  TIMES  A  DAY  AND  PRAYED,  AND  GAVE 
THANKS  BEFORE  HIS  GOD,  AS  HE  DID  AFORETIME." 

There  are  some  people  who  complain  that  they  see  no 
especial  use  in  the  details  of  the  Old  Testament  histories.  They 
are  so  different  from  the  more  modern  histories.  They  tell  us 
so  little  of  the  wealth  of  great  kings,  of  wars,  of  all  that  makes 
up  the  splendor  of  a  realm;  so  little  of  politics;  but  the  details 
are  mostly  made  up  of  the  moral  conduct  of  individuals.  The 
proper  reply  to  this  complaint  is  that  there  is  no  saving  im- 
portance in  the  politics  of  past  nations,  and  the  departure  of 
the  Bible  in  setting  forth  the  whole  moral  action  of  people,  in 
telling  us  how  men  stood,  how  they  rose,  how  they  fell,  and 
how  they  triumphed  in  their  own  souls,  is  of  far  greater  im- 
portance as  a  record  to  be  read  by  every  tried  and  tempted 
soul  in  every  age.  This  departure  alluded  to  is  a  proof  that 
these  writings  came  from  that  God  who  cares  for  the  human 
soul.  And  after  all,  what  is  it  in  novels  which  interest  their  read- 
ers so  ?  Is  it  not  because  there  is  exhibited  to  us  a  true  picture 
of  character?  Novels  when  written  well  show  us  models  of  char- 
acter which  we  may  safely  imitate ;  and  in  this  they  are  useful. 
Sir  Walter  Scott's,  for  instance,  give  us  a  type  of  a  nation. 

Perhaps  no  one  stands  higher  than  Daniel  among  the 
Scripture  writings.  He  seems  entirely  faultless,  and  is  men- 
tioned wifh  honor.  The  point  of  this  discourse  will  be  the 
importance  of  an  established  character — a  moral,  resolute 
Christian  character.  Daniel,  in  his  early  youth,  was  taken 
captive  by  the  great  Babylonian  conqueror  Nebuchadnezzar, 
and  instructed  in  all  the  thorough  scientific  knowledge  of  the 
renowned  Chaldeans.  Daniel  became  in  time  superior  to 
them  all ;  he  held  high  office  under  seven  kings,  was  a  lead- 
ing statesman,  and  at  the  age  of  eighty  years  occupied  a  posi- 
tion corresponding  to  that  of  prime  minister  under  the  Median 
king,  Darius.  Neither  his  love  of  learning,  nor  the  tempta- 
tions of  office,  could  draw  him  away  from  the  high  religious 
principles  which  he  professed.  The  prophecies  of  Daniel  dis- 
tinctly pointed  out  the  Saviour. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Circular  Letter  by  Rev.  S.  Aaron  at  the  Central  Union 
Association  of  Independent  Baptist  Churches,  June, 
1855. 

To  the  Churches. — Dear  Brethren  :  The  subject  prescribed 
for  the  present  communication  is  "Restricted  Communion." 
The  writer  appointed  prefers  to  present  this  topic  in  the  form 
of  a  colloquy.  Suppose  that  a  pious  "  Pedobaptist,"  or  rather 
Pedorantist,  or  sprinkler  of  babes  and  others,  be  represented 
by  P.;  a  conscientious  Baptist,  decidedly  Biblical,  by  B. ;  and 
a  liberal  Christian,  not  strenuously  devoted  to  ordinances,  by 
L.  They  are  thrown  together  for  an  evening,  and,  with  a 
friendly  and  confidential  temper,  engage  in  the  following  con- 
ference : 

L. — What  a  pity  it  is  that  the  seamless  garment  of  Christ 
is  rent  into  so  many  divisions.  The  thoughtless,  unbelieving 
world  are  not  without  excuse  when  they  ridicule  such  disunity 
and  confusion  in  the  Christian  church. 

B. — In  my  judgment,  division  on  principle  is  better  than 
union  without  it.  The  solidarity  of  Popery  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, when  darkness  and  light,  bigotry  and  piety,  virtue  and 
vice,  faith  and  infidelity,  were  soldered  into  a  mass  by  inquisi- 
torial fire  and  fastened  together  by  the  clamps  of  Papal  infal- 
libility, was  a  state  of  the  church  less  profitable  to  the  world 
than  the  abused  privileges  of  Protestant  freedom.  Our  pure 
standard  of  truth,  with  a  little  phalanx  of  the  faithful  gathered 
around  it,  is  a  better  instrumentality  for  saving  mankind  than 
the  whole  babbling  mob  of  Russia  or  of  Rome,  driven  by  the 
lash  of  authority  or  lured  by  holiday  shows. 

L. — You  are  too  figurative,  Brother  B.  I  want  unity, 
with  purity  and  order  too.     Is  not  that  possible? 


90  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

B. — If  it  is,  it  must  form  around  a  central  truth.  Order 
cannot  come  out  of  chaos  while  confusion  is  law;  chaos  may 
come  to  order  when  truth  is  law.  Let  men  adhere  firmly  to 
the  Divine  Word,  and  nothing  else,  and  union  will  be  the  con- 
sequence in  God's  time  and  way. 

P. — Well,  Brother  B.,  you  speak  plausibly;  but,  really, 
you  Baptists  carry  out  your  principle  with  too  much  vigor. 
You  seem  to  me  sternly  and  even  stubbornly  exclusive,  and 
verge  towards  bigotry  in  your  close  communion.  You  refuse 
acknowledged  Christians  a  place  with  you  when  you  sit  down 
to  eat  and  drink  to  the  memory  of  our  common  Lord.  You 
have  no  right  thus  to  shorten  the  Lord's  table. 

B. — Well  said  is  this  last  sentence,  my  worthy  brother. 
But  what  better  right  have  you  to  lengthen  it?  It  is  the 
Lord's  table,  and  not  ours;  he,  and  not  we,  must  regulate  its 
dimensions,  for  he  assuredly,  and  not  we,  provides  the  feast. 

P. — All  right,  except  the  hint  that  we  lengthen  it. 

B. — Pardon  me!  I  inferred  from  your  remarks  about 
Baptists  refusing  acknowledged  Christians,  that  you  admit  or 
at  least  invite  pious  Quakers,  and  in  fact  every  one  who  has  a 
hope  in  Christ. 

P. — No,  sir;  we  hold  that  baptism  is  an  essential  prere- 
quisite to  communion,  and  that  this  is  the  clear  and  palpable 
limit  of  the  Lord's  table. 

B. — Excellent;  we  are  really  coming  together. 

P. — Not  so  fast,  I  fear,  for  you  Baptists  will  not  admit 
the  validity  of  our  baptism. 

B. — But  you  fully  admit  the  validity  of  ours. 

P. — Certainly;  and  therein  we  display  our  charity  and 
your  exclusiveness. 

B. — I  am  glad  of  your  admissions,  and  we  shall  certainly 
get  together.  Suppose  that  some  great  point  of  Christian 
union  were  proposed  to  be  carried,  so  that  millions  of  breth- 
ren now  disunited  could  be  gathered  into  one  visible  fold  ; 
suppose  that  this  union  could  be  effected  by  a  simple  act  of 
the  majority,  with  almost  no  inconvenience  to  any  one,  and 
without  the  slightest  violation  of  any  man's  conscience,  would 
it  not  be  the  duty  of  that  majority  to  effect  that  union? 


MISCELLANEOUS.  9 1 

p — Undoubtedly  it  would,  if  I  understand  your  hypoth- 
esis. 

B.' — Well,  you  admit  that  I  am  scripturally  baptized,  and 
that  you  would  be  perfectly  satisfied  with  such  a  baptism  for 
yourself  and  your  brethren;  while  I  dare  not  for  my  life  ad- 
mit that  you  have  been  baptized  at  all,  though  I  love  you  as  a 
Christian  brother. 

P. — Be  it  so.     And  what  then? 

B. — Why,  then  let  you  and  all  of  your  order  be  baptized 
as  I  am,  and  then  we  shall  form  not  only  a  spiritual  but  a  visi- 
ble union. 

P. — What,  three-fourths  of  the  church  give  way  to  one- 
fourth?  Why,  Brother  B.,  are  you  coming  out  a  bigot  in 
earnest? 

B. — Well,  my  friend,  if  you  will  not  act  in  agreement  with 
your  conscience  for  the  sake  of  union,  and  yet  require  me  to 
violate  mine  for  the  same  end,  or  be  deemed  a  bigot,  I  leave  it 
to  others  to  decide  which  is  the  greater  bigot  of  the  two. 

P. — I  confess  my  charge  of  bigotry  was  rather  hasty. 
But  while  all  our  learned  teachers  admit  the  validity  of  your 
mode  as  well  as  ours,  still  should  we  not  violate  conscience 
in  being  re-baptized  ? 

B. — Not  if  you  have  received  the  right  in  unconscious 
infancy,  because  your  conscience  is  not  bound  by  another's 
acts,  in  which  you  had  not  the  slightest  participation,  when 
that  act  is  neither  required  nor  sanctioned  by  the  Lord.  No 
man  pretends  that  there  is  in  scripture  a  positive  order,  a 
practical  example,  nor  a  specific  sanction  to  warrant  the  bap- 
tism of  children. 

P. — Still  my  parents  dedicated  me  to  the  Lord  in  bap- 
tism, and  I  should  wound  their  conscience  or  insult  their 
memory  in  being  re-baptized. 

B. — They  were  too  fast  in  the  dedication,  unless  they 
taught  you  first.  For  the  Lord's  commission  is:  "Teach  all 
nations,  baptizing  them,"  and  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  bap- 
tized, shall  be  saved."  And  besides,  if  you  throw  the  respon- 
sibility off  yourself  and  on  your  parents,  then  they  are  bound 
by  my  former  proposition,  as  adults,  as  you  tacitly  concede 
that  you  are,  for  the  sake  of  general  Christian  union,  to  agree 


92  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

that  you  should  be  baptized  as  I  have  been,  or  else  admit  that 
their  bigotry  is  greater  than  mine. 

P. — But  what  if  a  man  has  been  baptized,  as  I  think,  or 
rantized,  as  you  say,  on  profession  of  his  faith,  and  with  a 
good  conscience?  Is  it  not  sacriligious  to  repeat  the  ordi- 
nance in  that  case? 

B. — I  should  be  scrupulous  about  repeating  a  doubtful 
baptism  ;  and  nothing  is  more  doubted  by  many,  nor  more 
disbelieved  by  others,  than  that  sprinkling  or  affusion  is  bap- 
tism; but  I  should  be  clear  in  substituting  for  it  an  ordinance 
whose  validity  no  sane,  believing  man  ever  doubted,  when  by 
so  doing  I  would  aid  in  effecting  a  world-wide  Christian  union. 
Various  modes  of  baptism  are  about  as  plausable  as  various 
modes  of  circumcision. 

L. — Come,  Brother  B.,  you  have  been  rather  too  exacting 
on  Brother  P.,  and  he  has  conceded  a  little  too  much  for  his 
logical  comfort.  But  where  is  your  scripture  for  making  bap- 
tism a  condition  or  pre-requisite  of  communion? 

B. — Do  you  believe  that  both  ordinances  are  equally 
positive,  that  is  established  and  prescribed  by  the  Lord,  and 
real  requisites  of  a  true  Christian  consistency? 

L. — I  will  at  least  concede  it  to  hear  what  you  have 
to  say. 

B. — Well,  that  is  the  great  point.  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's 'Supper  have  most  assuredly  been  imposed  as  requi- 
sites of  an  orderly  Christian  profession.  The  one,  performed 
once  to  show  our  belief  in  the  one  great  fact  of  our  Lord's 
death  and  resurrection ;  the  other,  repeated  often  to  show  that 
we  live  by  the  offering  of  his  body  and  blood  forever.  If 
both  are  equally  requisites,  one  must  be,  with  regard  to  the 
other,  the  pre-requisite,  and  the  other,  the  post-requisite;  and 
scripture  practice  fully  settles  the  order  of  sequence.  "  Teach  " 
or  "disciple  all  nations,  baptizing  them,"  said  Jesus;  and  "he 
took  the  cup  and  gave  it  to  his  disciples." 

L. — I  wish  you  were  as  liberal  as  your  sentiments,  and 
as  tender  in  your  feelings  as  you  are  plausible  in  your  argu- 
ments; for  certainly  the  children  of  our  father,  the  brothers 
and  sisters  of  the  same  redeemer,  ought  not  to  be  excluded 
from  the  feast  of  love  celebrated  in  honor  of  the  Saviour's 


MISCELLANEOUS.  93 

name.  It  is  cruel  to  shut  out  one  of  his  humblest  or  weakest 
children. 

B. — Sentiment  and  feeling  are  probably  not  so  good  a 
rule  of  order  as  a  divine  command.  But  as  you  seem  to  be 
returning  to  the  point  at  which  we  started,  and  are  in  your 
turn  becoming  figurative,  I  reply  in  your  own  style,  that  I 
would  not  permit  my  own  best  loved  child  to  sit  with  me  at 
my  own  table  until  his  uncleanly  face  and  hands  had  first 
been  purified.  Why  then  press  to  the  table  of  my  Lord  the 
man  who  had  manifestly  neglected  a  positive  duty,  the  sym- 
bolic application  of  the  baptismal  waters,  and  the  sublime  type 
of  the  Christian  resurrection. 

L. — But  how  haughty  and  unkind  to  say  to  a  fellow- 
Christian,  "Stand  off;  I  am  holier  than  thou!" 

B. — It  is  still  more  unkind  to  sanction  an  error  than  to 
reprove  it;  to  believe  before  God  that  a  brother  is  wrong,  and 
then  do  nothing  to  set  him  rig;ht. 


Gaming  and   Horse-Racing. 

Resolved,  that  the  practice  of  wagering  on  a  horse  race 
or  on  a  game  of  chance,  is  a  violation  of  the  precept,  "Thou 
shalt  not  steal,"  as  well  as  a  presumptuous  appeal  to  providence 
for  a  supposed  favor,  and  that  for  these  reasons,  mainly,  horse- 
racing  and  gaming  should  be  prohibited  by  law. 

We  are  apt  to  dwell  on  the  incidental  evils ; — I  would  aim 
here  at  the  root — the  unlawful  love  of  money.  Incidental 
mischief  is  connected  with  everything.  We  can  lawfully  re- 
ceive for  an  equivalent  or  as  a  free  gift.  How  else  can  we 
rightfully  get  the  property  of  another?  Does  his  consent 
sanction  the  acceptance  as  moral  and  just?  He  does  not 
consent.  He  cannot  bestow.  The  temptation  is  offered  by 
each  to  the  other  to  defraud.  God  is  tempted  to  bestow  my 
neighbor's  goods  causelessly  on  me.  For  these  reasons  the 
resorts  of  horse-racers  and  gamblers  should  be  broken  up. 

Civil  society  is  an  organization,  dictated  by  nature  and 
inspiration.     It  distinctly  implies  and  demands  the  existence 


94  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

of  the  moral  virtues.  Civil  government  is  its  instrument  for 
certain  purposes.  Government  is  not  to  regulate  matters  of 
opinion  but  to  prevent  evils  in  fact. 


Infidelity. 


Norristown,  1854.  From  reliable  sources  I  learn  that 
Mr.  Joseph  Barker  "  undertakes  to  prove  against  any  clergy- 
man on  earth,  that  there  is  no  evidence  of  the  divine  author- 
ity of  the  Bible,  and  that  there  can  be  none."  Being  a  "  clergy- 
man on  earth,"  though  of  the  humblest  pretentions,  I  feel  dis- 
posed to  put  this  extraordinary  proposition  to  the  test;  for  it 
is  truly  wonderful  if  the  weakest  followers  of  Jesus  can  ad- 
duce no  proof  whatever  of  the  divine  authority  of  the  Bible, 
and  absolutely  amazing  if  the  Supreme  Being  himself  is  unable 
to  do  it.  But  as  the  Bible  is  to  be  taken  from  us  and  infidel- 
ity substituted  in  its  place,  it  seems  fair  to  give  that  substitute 
a  thorough  examination.  If  this  proposition  contemplates  a 
fair  and  thorough  examination  and  comparison  of  infidelity 
and  Christianity,  and  not  a  mere  fencing  with  phrases  and 
clauses,  I  feel  disposed  to  assist  Mr.  Barker  in  publicly  ex- 
amining.and  comparing  the  two  systems;  and  will  endeavor  to 
maintain,  first,  that  infidelity  has  no  authority  nor  tendency  to 
make  men  good  and  happy,  but  the  contrary,  and  is  therefore 
false;  second,  that  Christianity  (the  religion  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ),  as  fully  developed  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  foreshadowed  in  the  Old,  is  adapted  to  make,  and 
does  make,  every  true  believer  both  good  and  happy,  and  is 
therefore  true;  third,  that  the  Bible  is  a  revelation  from  God, 
and  that  the  objections  of  infidels  against  its  authority  are 
without  any  solid  foundation. 

Samuel  Aaron. 


MISCELLANEOUS.  95 


Samuel  Aaron's  Certificate  of  Ordination. 

To  all  people  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  the  subscribers 
send  greeting: 

Being  convened  at  New  Britain,  Bucks  county,  and  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  27th  day  of  September,  1828,  at  the 
instance  of  the  Baptist  church  of  New  Britain,  aforesaid,  for 
the  purpose  of  setting  apart  by  solemn  ordination  the  bearer 
hereof  to  the  sacred  office  of  the  ministry;  and  being,  by 
sufficient  testimonials,  fully  certified  of  his  moral  character, 
real  piety,  and  sound  knowledge  in  divine  things,  as  well  as 
ministerial  gifts  and  abilities,  whereof  we  had  otherwise  due 
knowledge:  We  did,  therefore,  on  the  said  27th  day  of 
September,  in  the  presence  of  said  church  and  a  full  assembly 
met,  solemnly  ordain  and  set  apart  to  the  sacred  office  of  the 
ministry,  by  imposition  of  hands  and  prayer  and  other  rituals 
among  us  in  that  case  in  use,  the  said  bearer,  our  worthy  and 
reverend  brother,  Samuel  Aaron,  whom  we  therefore  recom 
mend  as  such  to  favor  and  respect. 

Thos.  B.  Montanye,  V.  D.  M. 
Joseph  Mathias,  V.  D.  M. 
John  L.  Jenkins,  V.  D.  M. 
John  L.  Dagg,  V.  D.  M.      . 


The  Baptist  Church  at  Norristown,  Pennsylvania,  to  the  Central 

Union  Baptist  Association  of  Independent  Baptist  Chirches, 

greeting: 

Beloved  Brethren: — This  church,  since  the  last  meeting 
of  the  Association,  have  received  by  baptism  33,  by  letter  13, 
dismissed  by  letter  8,  excluded  8,  lost  by  death  2,  making  the 
whole  number  291,  being  a  net  gain  to  the  numbers  of  the 
church  on  earth  of  28,  and  to  the  denomination  of  23. 

The  delegates  appointed  to  sit  with  you  are  Elder  Sam- 
uel Aaron,  Elder  David  Bernard,  Brethren  B.  F.  Hancock, 
James    Ramage,  Thomas    Shaw,    Phinehas    Phillips,   George 


96  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

Eve,  Thomas  Scattergood,  Geo.  W.  Thomas,  Samuel  D.  Phil- 
lips, and  Joseph  Abraham. 

The  statistics  of  the  Sabbath  school  is  as  follows,  viz. : 
Children  considered  under  supervision  of  the  school,  140. 
Whole  number  of  teachers,  16.  Officers — Superintendent  and 
Assistant  Superintendent,  2.  Librarians,  2.  Scholars  bap- 
tized during  the  year,  3. 

1.  Nearly  a  year  since  our  late  pastor,  Elder  Bernard, 
who  was  frequently  and  unavoidably  from  home  on  a  highly 
important  religious  enterprise,  associated  with  himself  in  pul- 
pit labors  Brother  J.  N.  Hobart,  whose  services,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  pastor,  were  useful,  faithful  and  satisfactory. 

2.  Brother  Bernard,  believing  that  the  engagement  above 
alluded  to  demanded  his  whole  time,  advised  the  church  of 
his  determination  to  decline  the  pastoral  charge  at  the  close 
of  March  last;  whereupon,  after  some  consideration,  they 
elected  as  their  pastor  Elder  Samuel  Aaron,  who  entered  on 
the  duties  of  his  office  on  the  first  Lord's  day  in  the  last 
month.  Thus  far  the  congregations  have  not  fallen  away; 
but,  as  with  his  predecessors,  have  been  full  and  very  atten- 
tive, and  there  seems  to  be  a  reasonable  hope  that  the  Lord 
will  bless  the  connection. 

3.  The  Sabbath  school  has  been  a  favorite  and  favored 
nursery  of  this  church.  A  number  among  its  worthiest  mem- 
bers have  devoted  themselves  to  it  with  a  fervid  and  long- 
enduring  zeal  and  charity;  and  the  recent  determination  ot 
the  teachers  to  give  away  their  much  worn  library,  and  to 
raise  seventy-five  dollars  for  a  new  one,  is  a  pleasing  proof 
that  their  energy  is  neither  dead  nor  dying.  The  superin- 
tendent, Brother  Hancock,  says  in  his  late  report:  "The 
teachers  can  all  call  each  other  brother  and  sister  in  the 
Lord."  Some  of  the  brethren  likewise  labor  in  a  school 
several  miles  from  the  borough,  and  are  much  encouraged 
with  appearances  of  the  divine  blessing  on  their  efforts. 

4.  The  church  are  in  principle  opposed  to  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drinks,  and  would  surely  discipline  a  dram-drink- 
ing or  dram-selling  member,  and  commend  the  same  rule  to 
their  brethren. 


MISCELLANEOUS.  97 

5.  They  believe  that  the  saints  are  not  their  own,  but 
bought  with  a  price,  and  that  their  silver  and  gold  are  the 
Lord's;  therefore,  that  their  personal  service  and  their  sub- 
stance should  be  unreservedly  devoted  to  the  real  cause  of 
God,  so  as  to  give  a  translated  Bible  and  the  gospel  through 
a  pious  ministry  to  every  human  soul,  as  well  as  consolation 
and  aid  to  saints  in  affliction,  poverty  and  bondage. 

6.  They  believe  in  the  total  and  universal  depravity  of 
man,  which  must  inevitably  produce  his  everlasting  ruin,  un- 
less through  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  he  becomes 
reconciled  to  God  by  a  gospel  repentance  and  by  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus;  and  that  he  only  is  proved  to  be  a  child  of 
grace  who  perseveres  to  glory.  They  therefore  approve  of 
the  incessant  and  urgent  use  of  all  scriptural  efforts  for  the 
conversion  of  sinners  and  confirmation  of  believers. 

7.  They  deem  the  church  of  Christ  no  fit  asylum  for  any 
form  of  sin.  But  while  immorality,  profanity  and  falsehood 
are  excluded,  they  mourn  that  the  New  Testament  idolatry, 
the  worship  of  Mammon,  is  not  only  tolerated  in  many  of  our 
churches  but  often  rules  supreme.  This  covetous  spirit  re- 
jects the  apostle's  rules  of  "equality"  in  contribution;  it  often 
puts  a  faithful  and  humble  ministry  on  short  allowance;  it 
hardly  does  so  much  as  say  to  naked,  hungry  poverty,  "be 
warmed  and  filled;"  it  owes  so  many  debts  on  accumulating 
property  that  it  has  scarcely  a  dollar  to  lend  to  the  Lord;  its 
votaries  are  found  even  in  the  precincts  of  Zion,  who  drive  a 
profitable  trade  in  "liquid  death  and  distilled  damnation,"  and 
thousands  indulge  in  dignified  luxurious  ease  which  flows 
from  the  church-sanctioned  ownership  of  human  sinews,  bones 
and  blood.  This  church  are  of  opinion  that  the  arm  of  dis- 
cipline should  scourge  such  money  getters  from  the  temple. 

8.  Finally,  we  cordially  welcome  you  to  our  place  of 
worship,  to  our  firesides  and  our  hearts,  and  may  your  doings 
amongst  us  be  such  as  to  prove  you  not  only  "the  messengers 
of  the  churches,"  but  the  "glory  of  Christ";  guided  by  that 
wisdom  "that  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable,  full  of  mercy,  and 
without  partiality;"  not  controlled  by  that  caution  which  is 
first  cowardly,  then  crafty,  and  finally  treacherous,  both  to 
Christ  and  the  brethren. 

Adopted  Lord's  day,  May  24,  1841. 


98  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 


Agreement  to  Unite  in  a  Protracted    Meeting  by  the 
Presbyterians  and  Baptists. 

For  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  religious  influence  of 
this  community,  and  saving  the  souls  of  men,  we,  with  humble 
reliance  upon  the  blessing  of  God  in  the  gift  of  his  Holy 
Spirit,  do  mutually  agree,  as  the  pastors  of  the  Baptist  and 
Presbyterian  churches  of  Norristown,  to  engage  together  in  a 
series  of  religious  meetings.  And  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace,  and  avoiding  any 
evil  consequences,  we  promise  to  be  governed  by  the  follow- 
ing regulations: 

1.  There  shall  be  preaching  alternately  each  evening  in 
the  Baptist  and  Presbyterian  churches. 

2.  Until  the  31st  inst,  all  the  preaching  shall  be  done 
by  said  pastors. 

3.  The  pastor  shall  not  preach  in  his  own  church;  but 
it  shall  be  his  duty  to  exhort  after  the  sermon,  and  take  the 
general  management. 

4.  No  sermon  shall  be  more  than  forty-five  minutes 
long;  no  exhortation  more  than  ten  minutes  at  a  time,  and 
the  prayers  short  and  to  the  point. 

5.  If  it  be  found  best  to  have  more  than  one  sermon  per 
day,  all  shall  be  in  the  same  house. 

6.  The  members  shall  be  exhorted  to  kindness  and  good 
feeling  during  the  meetings,  and  not  dispute  about  doctrines. 

7.  Where  one  is  known  to  be  in  the  habit  of  attending 
a  particular  church  of  any  denomination,  or  whose  family  are 
of  a  particular  persuasion,  it  shall  be  considered  dishonorable 
to  influence  him  or  her  to  leave  and  join  elsewhere.  But 
when  there  are  no  such  connections,  it  is  proper  that  nothing 
be  done  to  excite  any  other  than  kind  feelings  in  the  mem- 
bers. 

8.  There  shall  be  a  collection  taken  up  every  evening 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  meetings,  an  account  of  which 
shall  be  kept  by  some  one  appointed  for  this  purpose.  Out 
of  this  the  sexton  shall  be  paid  fifty  cents  per  day,  for  open- 


MISCELLANEOUS.  99 

ing  and  preparing  the  house.  Whatever  shall  remain  after 
the  expenses  are  paid  shall  go  to  the  congregations  equally, 
to  pay  for  fuel  and  light. 

9.  It  will  be  expected  of  the  members,  as  well  as  the 
ministers,  to  conduct  with  Christian  courtesy  and  urbanity 
towards  each  other,  desiring  to  increase  mutual  influence  and 
esteem,  "In  honor  preferring  one  another." 

10.  There  shall  be  a  prayer  meeting  each  evening  at  six 
o'clock,  and  public  exercises  at  seven. 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Samuel  M.  Gould. 


Norristozun,  Dec.  24.,  1S4.2. 


Essay  Read  Before  a  Debating  Society,  18 19. 

From  amongst  the  numerous  subjects  that  present  them- 
selves for  the  discussion  of  critics  and  philosophers,  I  (by  no 
means  either)  have  selected  the  Improvement  of  the  Human 
Mind.  To  enter  into  an  analysis  of  its  component  parts,  or  a 
philosophical  disquisition  of  its  properties,  I  do  not  wish,  or 
am  I  able;  the  utmost  in  my  power  will  be  to  offer  a  few  com- 
monplace remarks,  and  to  tell  you  an  old  story  which  you 
have  heard  a  thousand  times,  in  words  perhaps  somewhat 
different. 

You  are  all  well  aware  that  where  the  omnipotent  hand 
has  animated  any  mass  of  matter  with  the  breath  of  life,  he 
has  also  bestowed  a  love  of  existence  and  a  dread  of  annihila- 
tion. The  meanest  insects  that  crawl  on  the  dust  have  a  kind 
of  instinctive  knowledge  which  impels  them  to  provide  for 
their  future  wants  and  those  of  their  offspring  with  the  most 
faithful  labor  and  tender  care.  It  might  be  proved,  I  presume, 
that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  existence  without  intelligence, 
nor  life  without  reason.  Every  creature  that  lives  is  happy  in 
its  existence  and  loth  to  part  with  it,  with  one  painful  excep- 
tion— creation's  exalted  lord,  unworthy  man.     This  exception, 


IOO  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

however,  is  not  general;  it  is  but  a  few  whose  heads  are 
crazed  by  drunkenness,  or  whose  hearts  are  broken  by  disap- 
pointed schemes  of  love  or  ambition,  who  repair  for  an  end  of 
their  woes  to  a  pistol  or  a  halter. 

But  leaving  this  sad  subject,  let  us  pursue  our  point.  The 
intelligence  of  all  other  animals,  when  compared  with  that  of 
man,  loses  its  effulgence,  and  is  extremely  dimmed,  if  not  ex- 
tinguished, by  the  transcendent  lustre  of  his  superior  under- 
standing; his  ideas  extend  themselves  to  the  remotest  bounds 
of  the  universe,  and  with  restless  anxiety  seek  the  compre- 
hension of  all  nature's  plan.  On  the  proper  direction  of  these 
intellectual  powers  depend  his  honor  and  happiness,  both  in 
his  temporal  and  eternal  existence. 

As  it  appears  then  that  the  improvement  of  the  mind  is 
of  the  most  momentous  importance,  it  likewise  seems  almost 
equally  clear  and  important  that  the  season  of  youth  should 
be  devoted  to  this  improvement.  "Train  up  a  child  in  the 
way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old,"  etc.,  exclaimed  the 
wise  king  of  Israel.  "Just  as  the  twig  is  bent,  the  tree's  in- 
clined," is  one  of  the  effusions  of  the  eminent  poet  Pope. 
These  passages,  indeed,  have  not  a  very  intimate  connection 
with  the  subject,  yet  they  clearly  shewed  the  opinion  of  these 
great  men  (the  one,  an  ancient  prophetic  king;  the  other,  a 
modern  and  much  celebrated  poet)  to  have  been  that  youth  is 
the  proper  season  for  improvement,  the  era  to  acquire  those 
habits  that  must  regulate  our  after  lives,  and  the  time  to  sow 
that  good  seed  from  which  we  shall  reap  a  crop  of  everlasting 
felicity. 

Much,  indeed,  depends  on  the  culture  of  the  mind;  if  we 
trifle  away  the  spring-time  of  our  years  in  meditating  or  con- 
versing on  light,  vulgar  and  obscene  matters,  we  shall  always 
grovel  in  the  dust  and  be  the  reptiles  among  men;  we  shall 
most  likely  become  the  slaves  of  passion,  or  the  dupes  of  in- 
trigue; and  if  we  should  by  chance  live  to  old  age,  instead  of 
being  honored,  our  gray  hairs  will  be  despised.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  we  elevate  our  thoughts  and  employ  our  minds  in  use- 
ful and  instructive  studies,  we  shall  find  it  to  exalt  as  much  as 
the  reverse  depressed.  Instead  of  wading  in  the  mire  of  ignor- 
ance and  smothering  in  the  grossness  of  human  frailties  "that 


MISCELLANEOUS.  IOI 

vital  spark  of  heavenly  flame  that  animates  our  mortal  frame," 
it  is  in  the  power  of  man  to  kindle  it  into  such  a  clear  and 
brilliant  light  as  will  develop  to  him  the  mysteries  of  science, 
and  display  to  his  view,  what  before  was  dark,  the  beauties  of 
philosophy,  teach  him  to  reconcile  many  things  before  irrecon- 
cilable, illumine  his  way  to  the  temple  of  truth,  and  guide 
his  steps  to  the  sweet  vale  of  contentment.  And  youth  is  the 
time,  the  only  time,  to  attain  all  these  noble  ends,  whilst  the 
nerves  are  vigorous  and  the  fire  of  emulation  glows  most 
warmly  in  the  breast. 

A  long  time  used,  I  fancy  you  are  saying,  to  prove  what 
we  knew  very  well  before.  But,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  though 
our  tongues  confess,  yet  our  actions,  for  the  most  part,  deny 
the  importance  of  juvenile  improvement. 

Let  us  humbly  point  out  a  few  things  (that  ought  to  be 
in  some  measure  dispensed  with)  operating  as  hindrances  to 
mental  improvement.  Suppose  that  some  of  the  young  gen- 
tlemen would  employ  a  part  of  the  time  in  improving  their 
minds  which  they  use  in  paying  their  addresses  to  a  plurality 
of  ladies,  not  one  of  whom  they  ever  intend  to  marry  (not  to 
say  all),  or  in  planning  schemes  of  love  and  pleasure  which 
they  have  not  the  most  distant  hope  of  realizing;  in  getting 
by  rote  a  collection  of  witty  sayings,  polite  and  love-inspiring 
compliments  for  the  purpose  of  engaging  the  attention  or  per- 
haps beguiling  the  heart  of  some  fair  one  whom  they  never 
intend  to  love.  If  these  hours  were  devoted  to  the  attain- 
ment of  some  other  point  than  this,  it  is  most  likely  there 
would  not  be  so  much  complaint  for  want  of  time;  and  it  is 
possible  our  president's  ears  would  not  be  so  often  assailed 
with  the  well-known  address,  "  I  have  no  remarks  to  offer,  sir, 
this  evening."  And  (can  my  rashness  be  pardoned?)  if  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  the  young  ladies  would  curtail  a  little  the  time 
they  spend  at  the  toilet  or  the  glass,  preparing  to  outvie  in 
finery  and  beauty  all  the  other  belles  at  some  contemplated 
party,  and  to  attract  the  greatest  number  of  admirers,  when 
their  own  modesty  tells  they  want  but  one  husband — if  a  part 
of  this  time  were  passed  at  the  needle  or  in  the  library,  there 
would  no  doubt  be  as  many  loving  and    beloved  wives,  as 


102  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

many  prudent  and  tender  mothers,  as  there  are  in  the  present 
state  of  things. 

I  do  not  wish  to  criticise  the  manners  of  the  age,  nor  to 
preach  a  moral  sermon,  this  evening;  but  permit  me  to  say 
that  if  the  youth  of  both  sexes  would  coolly  and  impassionately 
consider  how  contemptible  that  mass  of  mortality  we  take  so 
much  pains  to  decorate,  is,  in  comparison  with  the  noble  in- 
telligence that  animates  it,  which,  after  it  has  dropped  the 
burden  that  clogs  it  in  the  grave  to  dissolve  in  kindred  dust, 
"will  flourish  in  immortal  youth,  unhurt  amid  the  war  of  ele- 
ments, the  wreck  of  matter,  and  the  crush  of  worlds" — if  these 
things  were  duly  considered,  it  would  no  doubt  appear  a  de- 
spicable employment  to  bend  the  immortal  mind  to  the  pitiful 
purpose  of  contriving  how  to  decorate  a  piece  of  moving  clay, 
to  teach  it  to  put  on  a  number  of  finical  airs,  and  to  utter  in 
soft  sounds  a  few  smart  things,  all  which  may  glitter  for  a 
moment  like  the  gay  colors  of  the  butterfly,  and  then  be  seen 
no  more. 

But  I  am  wandering  from  the  subject, -in  advising  those 
who  know,  and  do  much  better  than  myself.  The  young 
ladies  and  gentlemen  are  well  aware  that  however  precious 
they  may  be,  on  account  of  their  beauty  or  finery,  to  any  one, 
they  cannot  be  of  as  much  value  as  the  improvement  of  their 
minds  is  to  themselves.  The  fickle  and  giddy  passion  of 
juvenile  love,  and  the  boundless  desire  of  being  handsome 
and  admired,  seem  with  most  young  persons,  amongst  many 
other  things,  no  trifling  hindrance  to  the  improvement  of  the 
mind.  The  young  do  not  consider  while  so  employed  that 
they  are  planting  what  will  produce  the  fruit  of  shame  and 
remorse  when  they  arrive  at  years  which  should  be  employed 
on  the  stage  of  usefulness. 

Permit  me  to  name  another  obstruction  which  often  stag- 
gers even  the  industrious  youth.  Young  persons  about  enter- 
ing on  the  arduous  task  of  learning,  think  a  complete  acqui- 
sition of  science  of  easy  attainment,  but  upon  trial  find  them- 
selves seriously  mistaken.  After  having  a  long  time  pored 
over  some  system  of  grammar  or  mathematics,  which  the 
author  gravely  calls  only  an  introduction,  they  find  themselves 
very  imperfect  in  their  knowledge  of  it,  and  very  naturally 


MISCELLANEOUS.  IO3 

comparing  themselves  with  some  great  men,  and  discovering 
their  own  inferiority  to  be  so  'vast  become  incredibly  dis- 
heartened with  their  ignorance.  These  considerations,  how- 
ever, are  but  juvenile,  and  will  give  way  to  more  mature  age 
and  reflection.  Some  may  allege  that  they  have  not  the 
means  of  becoming  well  informed;  but  this  is  a  very  frivolous 
excuse,  as  nothing  hinders  but  want  of  inclination.  All  who 
have  their  natural  senses  may  become  possessed  of  much  in- 
formation if  they  desire  it.  For  in  this  land  of  light  and 
liberty  the  words  of  the  poet,  "our  needful  knowledge,  like 
our  needful  food,  unhedged,  lies  open  in  life's  common  field," 
are  peculiarly  applicable  here.  Not  only  the  useful  but  the 
ornamental  branches  of  science;  not  only  the  instructive  but 
the  polished  parts  of  literature,  are  diffused  with  copious  pro- 
fusion. 

The  fair  light  of  knowledge  and  instruction  does  not  only 
come  within  the  scope  of  popish  priests  and  wealthy  lords 
(for  such  creatures  are  scarce  here),  but  is  extended  to  all  as 
freely  as  the  air  we  breathe,  or  the  liberal  principles  of  our 
happy  government.  The  farmer  and  the  gentleman  stand  an 
equal  chance  for  being  advanced  to  the  first  honors  of  the 
nation.  Let  there  be  no  complaint  for  want  of  means  then,  at 
least  until  the  means  allowed  are  made  use  of  and  exhausted. 

The  principal  object  or  summum  bonum  of  mental  im- 
provement is,  I  apprehend,  to  become  intimately  acquainted 
with  human  nature;  not  for  the  purpose  of  taking  advantage 
of  its  foibles,  so  as  to  lead  it  captive  to  headlong  passion,  or 
make  it  the  dupe  of  avarice  or  wild  ambition,  but  to  be  able  to 
ameliorate  its  situation,  to  strengthen  its  weaknesses,  to  soothe 
its  miseries,  and  to  restore  it  as  nearly  as  possible  to  its  pris- 
tine dignity,  innocence  and  happiness. 

As  the  field  of  intellectual  improvement  is  unbounded, 
and  the  species  of  fruit  innumerable,  it  is  neither  needful  nor 
becoming  for  me  to  point  out  that  which  should  be  gathered; 
let  every  one  select  what  pleases  him,  or,  having  tested  all, 
keep  that  which  is  good.  The  advantages  resulting  from 
virtuous  knowledge  are  incalculable.  It  may  be  said,  for  all 
to  become  wise  is  absurd,  inasmuch  as  there  would  be  no 
distinction ;  but  we  have  information  that  may  be  relied  on, 


104  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

that  "  Happy  is  the  man  that  findeth  wisdom,  and  he  that  get- 
teth  understanding,"  and  that  the  lot  of  all  men  should  be 
peace  and  happiness,  is  an  event  to  be  fervently  desired. 

Suffer  me  to  notice  one  particular  advantage  that  it  gives 
the  ladies.  When  a  sensible  young  man  marries  a  young 
lady  of  whom  he  is  much  enamored,  for  awhile  he  thinks  of 
nothing  but  her  gaiety  and  beauty,  but  after  the  warmth  of 
passion  subsides  a  little,  he  begins  to  look  for  something 
more — her  mental  qualifications.  If  he  finds  her  destitute  of 
information  in  almost  every  respect,  he  shuns  her  for  better 
company,  in  public  is  ashamed  of  her,  and  uses  her  like  hidden 
treasure  which  he  is  afraid  any  one  should  know  he  possesses; 
but  if  she  proves  the  reverse  of  this,  she  becomes  his  delight 
indeed,  his  solace  in  adversity,  his  heaven  in  prosperity,  and 
there  cannot  fail  to  be  enkindled  on  the  embers  of  expiring 
passion  a  pure  and  temperate  flame  of  mutual  affection,  lasting 
as  existence,  quenched  only  by  death. 

Literature,  however,  is  not  only  useful  to  individuals 
abstractly  considered,  but  is  also  of  the  highest  advantage  to 
nations  and  communities.  It  is  not,  as  is  generally  thought, 
that  because  the  Greeks  and  Romans  excelled  all  the  nations 
in  warlike  and  glorious  deeds,  that  they  appear  so  conspicuous 
on  the  page  of  history,  but  because  they  had  among  them  men 
of  refined  and  enlightened  understandings,  whose  deep  re- 
searches into  historical  and  scientific  matters  enabled  them  to 
transmit  to  posterity  in  glowing  colors  the  actions  of  their 
countrymen.  In  vain  might  the  hero  conquer,  or  the  patriot 
bleed,  their  triumphs  and  their  blood  would  be  soon  forgotten 
but  for  the  faithful  pen  of  the  historian.  Such  precious  gifts, 
the  effects  of  learning,  are  indeed  inestimable;  they  unfold  to 
the  eyes  of  youth  the  illustrious  deeds  of  ancient  patriots  and 
sages,  and  kindle  the  glow  of  virtuous  emulation  in  the  ardent 
breast,  and  nerve  the  stripling's  arm  with  more  than  manly 
strength. 

It  is  not  indeed  possible  in  the  nature  of  things  for  all  to 
be  great  men,  or,  as  the  almanac  oration  said,  "to  ride  the  big 
horse."  It  is  not  the  fate  of  every  one  to  be  as  was  said  of 
Washington,  "the  sunbeam  in  council  and  the  storm  in  war"; 
but  it  is  possible  for  every  one  to  become  exemplary  in  the 


MISCELLANEOUS.  I05 

class  to  which  he  belongs,  to  enlarge  and  refine  his  under- 
standing, and  by  these  means  to  purify  and  fortify  his  heart. 
It  requires  more  than  an  ordinary  capacity  to  take  up  with 
Milton  the  angelic  lyre  and  portray  in  celestial  strains  the 
scenes  of  paradise,  to  view  the  vast  retrospect  of  intellectual 
life,  or  traverse  with  fancy  like  his  immeasurable  wilds  of 
ether  with  Satan's  banished  legions.  Seldom  do  we  see 
understanding  like  that  of  Rittenhouse  and  Newton,  whose 
comprehensive  ken  embraced  all  creation ;  whose  unerring 
judgment,  without  the  assistance  of  airy  fancy,  could  analyze 
and  harmonize  every  part  of  nature's  frame;  who  could  follow 
with  undeviating  precision  the  glittering  spheres  in  their 
meanderings  through  the  heavens;  and  who  were  inhabitants 
as  it  were  of  world's  immeasurably  distant.  But  to  finish  a 
long  story  with  the  beautiful  language  of  Grey,  "The  applause 
of  listening  senates  to  command,  and  read  their  history  in  a 
nation's  eyes,"  is  the  fortune  of  few.  Notwithstanding,  let  all 
contend  for  the  prize;  virtue  and  perseverance  never  lose  a 
sufficient  reward. 

But  finally,  the  most  flattering  consideration  of  all  is  the 
eternal  duration  of  intellectual  improvement;  the  probability 
that  in  a  future  state  the  mind  will  still  be  approximating  to- 
wards perfection;  and  that  purged  from  all  alloy  of  earthly 
passion,  and  freed  from  the  incumbrance  of  a  gross  load  of 
mortality  which  enfeebled  its  power  and  obstructed  its  mo- 
tion, it  will  be  forever  investigating  still  new  and  nobler  prin- 
ciples, and  be  able  to  discover  that  "all  discord  was  harmony 
not  understood;  all  partial  evil  universal  good;"  to  trace  the 
connection  link  by  link  of  the  chain  of  being  and  reason  from 
beginning  to  end,  both  fastening  on  the  throne  of  omnipotence. 


io6 


REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 


Memento  of  Affection. 


Dear  Aaron :  If  the  remembrance  of  days  that  are  past, 
if  the  retrospect  of  the  scenes  of  youth  can,  in  riper  years, 
shed  a  tranquillity  over  the  mind,  or  gild  the  last  moments  of 
existence  with  a  beam  of  mental  satisfaction,  we  trust  that 
when  raised  to  that  eminence  to  which  your  talents  entitle 
you,  you  will  recur  with  pleasure  to  those  hours  which  have 
been  spent  with  us  in  the  attainment  of  literature,  and  which 
have  been  rendered  doubly  agreeable  by  your  presence. 
Your  happiness  will  be  our  wish  through  life;  but  if  the  chill- 
ing blasts  of  adversity  should  destroy  those  hopes  we  enter- 
tain of  your  advancement  in  life,  we  here  profess  ourselves 
your  warm  and  unshaken  friends.  We  hope  that  you  will 
receive  this  memento  of  our  affection  which  we  offer  from  the 
pure  and  undisguised  feelings  of  our  hearts. 


Robert  Taylor, 
William  R.  Richardson, 
Gustavus  Black, 
T.  H.  Yardley, 
Charles  Holmes, 
Thomas  I.  Newbold, 
Aaron  S.  Lippincott, 
Jacob  Hewlings, 
Nathl.  Sayre  Harris, 
Samuel  S.  Grubb, 
John  L.  Newbold, 
James  H.  Bennett, 
Samuel  B.  Tobey, 
William  Kimber, 


Isaiah  P.  Bonham, 
Edmond  Morris, 
Henry  Rogers, 
Job  Irick, 
William  Carpenter, 
Walter  Browne, 
Joseph  T.  Price, 
R.  M.  Bishop, 
I.  Allen, 
J.  S.  Smith, 
W.  Shields, 
G.  Foster, 
L.  Rodman. 


Burlington,  Feb.  5,  1821. 


TEMPERANCE. 


Proceedings  of  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  "Burlington 
City  Temperance  Society,"  held  in  the  Methodist 
Meeting-House  in  that  place,  on  the  ym  of  Fifth- 
Month,  1834. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Samuel  Aaron,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Society.  Resolutions  of  a  local  nature  having 
been  presented,  were  passed  unanimously,  when  the  following 
members  were  elected  viva  voce,  to  serve  as  a  board  of  man- 
agers for  the  ensuing  year,  viz.:  Samuel  Aaron,  President; 
Nathan  W.  Cole,  M.  D.,  Vice  President;  Joseph  R.  King, 
Recording  Secretary;  William  J.  Allison,  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary; Charles  Atherton,  Treasurer;  Caleb  Gaskill,  Thomas 
Aikman,  John  Boozer,  Luke  Reed,  Joseph  L.  Powell,  Dubre 
Knight,  Directors. 

A  report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Board  for  the  past 
year  was  produced  and  read,  as  follows: 

The  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Burlington  Temperance 
Society,  in  conformity  with  the  constitution,  present  to  the 
Society  the  following  report:  They  will  commence  with  a 
brief  statement  of  particular  facts,  and  conclude  with  a  few 
general  observations.  Soon  after  the  last  annual  meeting,  the 
Board  made  exertions  to  establish  an  auxiliary  society  at 
Coopertown,  in  the  adjoining  township  of  Willingborough, 
which  were  successful  beyond  hope.  Several  farmers  in  the 
neighborhood  gathered  their  harvests  for  the  first  time  with- 
out ardent  spirits,  the  tavern  has  become  comparatively  de- 
serted, and  though  the  neighborhood  is  thinly  settled  forty 
numbers  of  the  "Temperance  Recorder"  are  taken,  and  a 
society  of  forty-three  members  now  exists.  Efforts  of  a  similar 
kind,  however,  in  relation  to  Slabtown,  or  Jacksonville,  have 


108  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

hitherto  entirely  failed.  Though  some  of  the  inhabitants  are 
temperate,  such  scruples  are  entertained  on  the  subject  of 
temperance  societies,  that  no  place,  not  even  the  house  of  di- 
vine worship,  nor  the  school-house,  could  be  obtained  for  the 
purpose  of  holding  a  temperance  meeting.  The  Board  of 
Managers  have  held  meetings  through  the  year,  and  have  col- 
lected and  expended  about  twenty  dollars  for  the  distribution 
of  valuable  temperance  papers.  One  hundred  copies  of  the 
"Temperance  Recorder"  are  circulated,  and  two  individuals 
have  procured  means  to  circulate  thirty  copies  of  the  "Tem- 
perance Intelligencer." 

Two  public  temperance  meetings  have  been  held  during 
the  year,  one  in  November  last,  at  which  an  address  was  de- 
livered, and  one  on  the  26th  of  February,  when  two  gentle- 
men addressed  a  numerous,  respectable  and  crowded  audience, 
forty-three  of  whom  gave  their  names  to  the  pledge  on  the 
spot.  About  ninety  names  have  been  added  to  the  Society 
during  the  past  year,  and  its  present  number  is  two  hundred 
and  seventy-one.  The  Board  have  actively  and  cordially  co- 
operated with  other  local  societies  in  happily  forming  the 
present  society  for  the  county,  and  they  took  measures  to  se- 
cure the  appointment  of  delegates  to  attend  the  State  Temper- 
ance Convention,  held  in  Trenton,  on  the  12th  of  February 
last,  part  of  whom  were  present  and  active  at  the  deliberations 
of  that  important  meeting.  They  are  happy  to  state  that  a 
distillery  near  this  place  has  been  discontinued  upon  principle, 
and  the  stills  broken  up  and  sold  for  old  copper.  They  beg 
leave  also  to  mention  to  the  honor  of  the  individual  and  for 
the  public  good  (though  the  circumstances  transpired  more 
than  a  year  since),  the  conduct  of  a  gentleman  of  this  place, 
who  decided  to  sacrifice  a  considerable  quantity  of  costly 
liquors  by  letting  them  waste  away  in  his  cellar.  They  earn- 
estly hope  to  see  all  our  respectable  fellow-citizens,  who  still 
furnish  ardent  spirits  to  the  community,  moved  by  examples 
like  these  to  give  over  the  work  of  death ;  and  they  tremble 
in  fear  of  the  retribution  that  awaits  the  incorrigible. 

The  Board  have  been  careful  to  be  and  to  appear  free 
from  any  political  or  sectarian  motives,  and  rejoice  exceed- 
ingly to  find  the  honest  scruples  of  various  worthy  citizens 


TEMPERANCE.  IO9 

yielding  to  the  evidence  presented  before  them,  that  temper- 
ance societies  are  really  the  means  of  preserving  the  unwary 
and  reclaiming  the  lost.  The  physicians  here,  as  elsewhere, 
are  mainly  and  actively  with  the  temperance  society,  thus 
showing  its  great  importance,  and  proving  their  own  desire  to 
preserve  men  in  health  not  less  than  to  cure  the  diseased. 
There  are  three  stores  in  the  place  that  sell  no  ardent  spirits, 
except  for  specified  medicinal  or  manufacturing  purposes,  thus 
correctly  and  wisely  furnishing  the  means  of  obtaining  the 
article  for  needful  occasions  without  encouraging  its  general 
use.  There  are  some  discouragements,  of  such  a  nature,  how- 
ever, as  to  show  the  need  of  reformation,  and  to  rouse  and 
exalt  the  spirit  of  benevolence.  We  have  to  encounter  the 
scoffs  and  curses  of  the  profane;  the  song  of  the  drunkard  ; 
and,  in  some  cases,  the  dignified  contempt  of  superior  wealth 
and  intelligence,  and  even  the  sober  opposition  of  accredited 
religion.  Thus  those  entirely  unlike  in  themselves,  the  pious 
and  the  profane,  the  drunk  and  the  sober,  the  wise  and  the 
foolish,  are  strangely  brought  together  in  common  array 
against  the  temperance  society. 

A  certain  amount  and  kind  of  public  feeling  are  against 
the  reformation.  For  instance:  Men  in  our  town  are  notori- 
ously destroying  their  moral  principles,  shortening  their  days, 
beggaring  their  families,  and  thus  taxing  the  public,  in  conse- 
quence of  drinking  ardent  spirits.  Youth,  mere  children,  are 
found  drunk  about  our  streets  and  carried  home;  individuals 
have  been  found  dead  in  the  road  or  in  the  water,  accompa- 
nied by  a  half-emptied  jug  of  whisky.  And  yet  the  respect- 
able persons  who  furnish  the  means  of  producing  these  effects 
deem  themselves  wholly  irresponsible,  and  are  considered  so 
by  many  others.  It  is  notorious  also  that  several  public 
houses  exist  in  this  place  more  than  are  really  necessary  or 
strictly  lawful,  according  to  the  charter  of  the  city  of  Burling- 
ton, Article  XI.  And  yet  neither  the  city  corporation  nor 
the  community  themselves  can  or  dare  take  any  efficient  mea- 
sures to  have  the  number  diminished. 

The  above  brief  account  of  particulars  must  suffice.  It  is 
our  opinion  that  those  who  drink  moderately  and  furnish  in- 
toxicating drinks  for  others,  are  mainly  responsible  for  the 


IIO  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

evils  of  intemperance.  The  more  influence  they  have,  the 
more  responsibility.  We  believe  that  temperance  consists  in 
partaking  moderately  of  needful  sustenance  and  abstaining  to- 
tally from  all  poisons.  But  the  arguments  of  many  of  our 
fellow-citizens  would  urge  the  moderate  use  of  opium,  and  hel- 
lebore, and  arsenic,  and  prussic  acid,  as  well  as  alcohol,  when 
in  perfect  health,  to  prove  our  temperance  in  the  enjoyment  of 
the  creatures  of  a  bountiful  Providence.  The  most  thought- 
ful and  conscientious  of  those  who  furnish  rum,  deny  it  to  the 
ruined  sot,  except  it  be  a  few  drams  to  commence  a  debauch ; 
and  only  administer  it  to  the  man  of  steady  habits,  the  uncor- 
rupted  youth,  or  the  prudent,  reflecting  tippler.  So  the  gen- 
teel debauchee  scorns  the  contact  of  vulgar  prostitution,  and 
finds  it  more  decent  and  respectable  to  ensnare  innocence  and 
pollute  virtue.  This  is  a  fatal  sophistry;  it  lays  snares  for  the 
souls  of  our  youth,  inoculates  the  land  with  plague,  and  atones 
for  all  the  evils  it  produces  by  shunning  its  victims  and  leav- 
ing them  to  the  poor-house  and  the  prison. 

We  believe  the  temperance  pledge  to  be,  under  Provi- 
dence, the  great  support  and  safeguard  and  the  moving  power 
of  the  temperance  reformation.  Some  object  to  it  as  an  arti- 
ficial and  arbitrary  check  upon  the  natural  dictates  of  con- 
science. If  so,  then  is  conscience  improperly  checked  by  the 
public  and  solemn  engagement  in  the  marriage  contract,  the 
oath  or  affirmation  of  a  witness,  juror  or  public  officer,  and  the 
written  and  formal  pledge  contained  in  a  promissory  note, 
deed  or  bond?  The  fact  is  that  fallible  beings  need  fixed  and 
well  ascertained  points  in  morals  to  enable  them  to  shape  their 
course  in  a  world  of  temptations;  as  mariners,  upon  the  de- 
ceitful and  trackless  ocean,  need  the  fixed  stars  for  their  direc- 
tion, while  subject  to  the  influence  of  unseen  currents  and 
changing  winds.  This  social  pledge  has  been  the  only  thing 
yet  tried,  and  not  found  wanting,  to  arrest  the  march  of  drunk- 
enness and  its  attendant  legions  of  destroyers.  The  tippling 
officers  of  justice  had  hanged  the  drunken  murderer  in  vain; 
the  preacher,  who  had  just  sipped  his  moderate  dram,  had  fruit- 
lessly declaimed  against  a  heartier  drink;  and  the  boasted 
common  sense  of  mankind  had  utterly  failed  to  erect  a  barrier 
or  even  draw  a  visible  and   acknowledged   line   between  safe 


TEMPERANCE.  I  I  I 

and  ruinous  indulgence.  But  the  social  pledge  to  total  absti- 
nence has  already  reclaimed  its  thousands  and  preserved  its 
millions.  Like  the  destroyer  it  opposes,  it  has  attracted  to  it- 
self all  sorts  of  persons.  Even  sects  and  denominations  of 
highly  repellant  properties  have  been  drawn  together  around 
it  as  a  common  centre  of  benevolent  attraction;  and  those  of 
no  profession  and  no  parts,  the  inert  and  scattered  fragments 
from  the  social  compact,  have  been  quickened  and  concen- 
trated by  the  same  cause.  The  temperance  pledge  then,  by 
its  power  to  unite  those  that  differ  in  everything  else,  has  am- 
ply proved,  we  think,  its  claims  to  general  homage.  May  this 
assembly  and  this  whole  community  subscribe  it  and  main- 
tain it  inviolably  and  forever. 

By  order  of  the  Board. 

Samuel  Aaron,  President. 

The  Rev.  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  D.  D.,  of  Philadelphia,  who 
was  present  by  particular  invitation,  then  arose,  was  introduced 
to  the  large  assemblage  by  the  chair,  and  delivered  a  most 
happy  and  able  address,  entirely  worthy  of  himself  and  the 
occasion.  Immediately  after  the  pledge  was  read  by  the  Presi- 
dent, and  upwards  of  forty  new  members  were  added  to  the 
society. 

On  motion,  Resolved,  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meet- 
ing be  published  in  the  Trenton  and  Mount  Holly  papers. 

The  following  list  contains  the  names  of  the  various  of- 
ficers of  the  Burlington  County  Temperance  Society,  as  elected 
at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  society  held  at  Mount  Holly  on 
April  14,  1834:  William  Russell,  President,  Mount  Holly, 
N.  J.;  Edward  Thomas,  Vice  President,  Medford,  N.  J.;  Thos. 
Aikman,  Vice  President,  Burlington,  N.  J.;  Josiah  R.  Reeve, 
Recording  Secretary,  Medford,  N.  J.;  James  H.  Sterling,  Cor- 
responding Secretary,  Burlington,  N.  J.  Directors — George 
Haines,  M.  D.,  Medford,  N.  J.;  John  H.  Rulon,  Yardville, 
N.  J.;  Jos.  R.  King,  Burlington,  N.  J.;  J.  L.  Stratton,  M.  D., 
Mount  Holly,  N.  J.;  Richard  W.  Eayre,  Mount  Holly,  N.  J.; 
John  West,  Trenton,  N.  J.;  William  K.  Mason,  M.  D.,  Tuck- 
erton,  N.  J.;  Hezekiah  Cramer,  Tuckerton,  N.  J.;  Joseph  At- 
wood,  Tuckerton,  N.  J.;  Conley  Plotts,  Columbus,  N.  J.;  Paul 


I  I  2  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Jones,  Burlington,  N.  J. ;  Thomas  Edmunds,  Jr.,  Pemberton, 
N.  J.;  Clarence  W.  Mulford,  Pemberton,  N.  J.;  Samuel  VVool- 
ston,  M.  D.,  Vincenttown,  N.  J.;  John  Purdue,  M.  D.,  Pem- 
berton, N.  J. 


The  Board  of  Mci7iagcrs  of  the  Burlington   City   Temperance 
Society  do  respectfully  present  the  following  report  : 

The  time  of  holding  the  annual  meeting  having  been 
changed  during  the  past  year,  a  period  of  only  about  nine 
months  has  elapsed  since  making  our  last  report.  Since  that 
time  about  sixty  persons  have  been  added  to  the  list  of  mem- 
bers, including  upwards  of  forty  who  joined  on  that  occasion, 
and  the  whole  number  of  members  is  at  present  about  three 
hundred  and  thirty.  Only  two  or  three  persons  have  been  so 
far  overcome  by  the  power  of  former  habits  as  to  render  their 
permanent  reformation  hopeless;  though  somewhat  more  than 
that  number  have  been  delinquent  more  or  less.  No  person 
within  the  bounds  of  the  neighborhood  limiting  the  society  is 
known  to  the  board  to  have  renounced  the  traffic  from  moral 
principles  during  the  past  year;  and  while  there  are  four  good 
stores  where  spirits  are  not  kept,  there  are  four  also,  in  other 
respects,  together  with  five  taverns  and  one  distillery,  where 
ardent  spirits  are  furnished  as  a  common  drink.  The  board 
are  of  opinion,  however,  that  the  business  has  become  less 
popular  and,  they  trust,  less  profitable  within  even  the  past 
year;  and  they  are  fully  persuaded  that  fewer  individuals  and 
families  than  formerly  of  the  more  enlightened  classes  are  now 
the  victims  of  drunkenness. 

The  board  have  acted  together  very  harmoniously,  and 
most  of  them  have  devoted  not  a  little  time  and  reflection  to 
conscientious  and,  as  they  believe,  lawful  and  proper  efforts  to 
promote  the  cause.  What  they  have  done  has  been  done 
openly;  they  have  not  shunned  nor  dreaded  responsibility. 
On  the  contrary,  they  earnestly  invoke  a  free  and  full  exami- 
nation of  their  actions  and  their  motives.  They  seriously  con- 
templated holding  up  to  public  detestation  the  scandalous  ef- 
fects of  drinking  at  the  great  militia  training  that  followed  hard 


TEMPERANCE.  I  I  3 

upon  our  last  annual  meeting;  but  concluded  finally  that  the 
notorious  scenes  themselves,  the  courts  martial,  with  the  prose- 
cutions for  damages  that  followed  that  shameful  day,  would 
leave  them  nothing  to  add.  No  small  exertion  was  made  dur- 
ing the  early  part  of  last  summer  to  establish  a  temperance 
hotel  in  this  city.  And  to  show  that  the  true  friends  of  tem- 
perance are  not  actuated  by  niggardly  and  avaricious  feelings, 
we  would  state  that  the  board  pledged  themselves  that  the 
friends  of  the  cause  would  contribute  from  $150  to  $200  for 
the  purpose  of  having  the  experiment  of  keeping  a  respectable 
temperance  house  tried  fairly  for  a  single  year.  This  negotia- 
tion, however,  entirely  failed. 

The  board  invited  recently  the  public  discussion  of  some 
questions  touching  the  character  of  temperance  societies,  and 
several  persons  freely  stated  their  objections  to  them.  The 
acknowledged  integrity  and  intellect  of  these  gentlemen  afford 
ample  proof  that  objections  among  the  sincerest  and  weight- 
iest that  can  be  urged  were  then  presented;  and  we  are  happy, 
therefore,  to  have  such  evidence  that  not  a  feather's  weight  of 
argument  can  be  brought  to  bear  against  the  grand  principles 
of  the  temperance  reformation. 

We  will  make  no  invidious  comparisons  between  the 
members  of  our  society  and  others;  but  we  must  say  that  the 
numbers,  the  experience  and  the  character  of  those  zealously 
attached  to  the  society,  are  such  as  to  entitle  it  to  the  serious 
attention  and  respect  of  this  intelligent  community.  Not  to 
mention  others — that  class,  not  very  small,  of  virtuous,  injured 
and  suffering  females,  whose  benedictions  attend  all  our  labors 
— the  mothers,  wives  or  widows  of  men  ruined  by  intemper- 
ance, who  cry  both  to  God  and  man  for  help  and  pity,  pre- 
sent claims  to  our  attention  that  cannot  be  innocently  or  safely 
disregarded. 

In  closing  with  a  remark  or  two,  no  more  plain  than  they 
are  notoriously  and  strictly  true,  we  premise  the  solemn  avowal 
of  our  good  will  towards  all  mankind,  and  that  what  we  say  is 
from  a  sense  of  duty  only.  We  do  reiterate,  then,  as  our  de- 
liberate and  firm  belief,  the  opinion  of  thousands  among  the 
wisest,  best  and  greatest  men  of  this  nation — an  opinion  which 
they  have  publicly  and  formally  avowed — that  the  traffic  in 


I  I  4  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

ardent  spirits  with  a  view  to  furnishing  them  to  our  fellow- 
men  as  a  common  drink,  is  morally  wrong;  and  that  the  laws 
which  sanction  this  traffic  are  also  morally  wrong,  having  no 
foundation,  as  all  human  laws  ought  to  have,  in  those  immu- 
table principles  of  justice  contained  in  the  revealed  will  of  God. 
We  hold  it  to  be  self-evident  that  no  man  or  set  of  men  can 
have  a  moral  right  to  do  or  authorize  to  be  done  anything  that 
tends  to  injure  themselves  or  others.  Whatever  rights  of 
property  a  man  may  have,  he  can  have  no  right  to  appropri- 
ate his  substance  in  a  way  that  promotes  either  the  voluntary 
or  involuntary  ruin  of  mankind.  A  man  may  measure  out, 
with  full  and  honest  measure,  the  gills  and  quarts  that  destroy 
his  neighbor's  health  and  character  and  lay  him  in  a  prema- 
ture and  dishonorable  grave,  and  leave  his  family  outcast  and 
penniless.  He  may  balance  his  book  with  the  last  dollar  of 
the  drunkard's  substance — the  voluntary  drunkard;  he  may 
call  it  a  final  settlement,  and  the  law  will  sanction  it  as  a  fair 
and  just  transaction.  But  we  believe  (the  truth,  in  love,  to  all) 
that  the  settlement  is  not  final,  that  the  transaction  is  not  just, 
that  a  Book  will  appear — a  true  Book — of  entirely  different 
entries  on  the  subject,  and  that  the  approving  statute  made  on 
earth  will  be  pronounced  by  a  Higher  Legislator  null  and  void. 
Burlington,  N.  %}  February,  i8jj. 


Plain  Truth. 


The  undersigned  presented  a  remonstrance  before  the 
corporation  of  this  city  on  the  1st  inst.  against  licensing  so 
many  persons  to  keep  inns  and  taverns  as  have  heretofore 
been  permitted  to  do  so.  Having,  in  connection  with  his  late 
partner,  expended  from  $8000  to  $9000  in  this  city  during  the 
eighteen  months  last  past  he  supposed  as  usefully  to  the  com- 
munity as  any  of  the  applicants  for  tavern  licenses,  and  having 
been  deeply  aggrieved  and  injured  by  permission  given  to  stu- 
dents of  only  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of  age  to  drink  in- 
toxicating liquors  in  some  of  the  taverns,  he  hoped  to  be  heard 
in  support  of  the  remonstrance.      He  could  not,  however,  be 


TEMPERANCE.  I  I  5 

heard  consistently  with  the  rules  of  the  body,  and  therefore 
takes  this  way  of  stating  a  k\v  points  that  he  wished  to  urge: 

1.  Some  of  the  tavern-keepers  have  violated  the  law  by 
selling  without  license. — See  laws  of  New  Jersey,  page  282, 
Sec.  7;  and  page  745,  Sec.  4. 

2.  Is  not  the  law  violated  by  licensing  more  inns  and 
taverns  than  are  neces'sary? — See  page  283,  Sec.  9. 

3.  Has  it  not  been  triumphantly  and  wantonly  trampled 
on  by  selling  to  apprentices  and  school-boys? — Page  285,  Sec. 
22;  and  page  532,  Sec.  1. 

4.  The  law  requires,  under  a  very  heavy  penalty,  a  bill 
of  fare  certified  by  the  clerk  to  be  exhibited  in  every  tavern. 
— Page  284,  Sec.  17.     Is  this  attended  to? 

5.  The  law  requires  the  presiding  Justice  to  call  upon 
the  Justices  present  to  make  known  any  facts  and  objections 
why  such  license  should  not  be  granted. — Pages  744,  745  ;  Sec. 
1.     Was  that  duty  performed  on  the  1st  inst.  ? 

6.  At  one  of  the  taverns  an  old  man,  now  poor,  was  al- 
lowed to  dispose  of  $15  in  three  days. 

7.  At  another,  a  young  man,  in  many  respects  deserv- 
ing, was  furnished  on  a  Sunday  with  a  pocket  bottle  filled  with 
spirits,  which  he  carried  into  the  woods,  and  by  which  means 
he  was  confirmed  in  a  drunken  frolic  and  was  permitted  at 
the  taverns  to  drink  himself  in  two  or  three  days  out  of  coun- 
tenance, out  of  heart,  out  of  money,  out  of  work,  and  to  leave 
the  place  a  homeless  wanderer  on  the  earth. 

8.  Very  recently  a  man,  who  had  been  drinking  for  a 
month,  and  evidently  destroying  himself,  went  home  from  cer- 
tain taverns  where  he  had  obtained  liquor,  and  was  dead  two 
hours  after. 

9.  Groups  of  men  are  to  be  found  on  Sundays,  at  some 
of  the  taverns  at  least,  drunk,  profane  and  blasphemous,  quar- 
reling often,  sometimes  fighting  at  or  near  the  tavern,  and 
much  disturbing  the  peaceable  citizens.  The  applicants,  how- 
ever, were  all  licensed  as  persons  of  unimpeachable  integrity, 
and  necessary  in  that  capacity  for  the  common  good.  It  was 
remarkable,  however,  that  of  the  signers  to  their  petitions,  four 
persons  signed  each  three  petitions,  making  twelve  signatures ; 
twelve  persons  signed  each  two  petitions,  making  twenty-four 


I  I  6  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

signatures;  and  twenty-one  persons  signed  each  one  petition, 
making  twenty-one  signatures.  So  thirty-seven  persons,  one 
a  member  of  the  corporation,  furnished  fifty-seven  signatures. 
This  fact  shows  how  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  freeholders  (per- 
haps two  hundred)  of  this  city  feel  towards  our  taverns.  One 
petition  had  been  much  soiled  and  handled  in  procuring  twelve 
names.  On  the  principle  pursued  by  these  petitioners  and 
signers,  twelve  freeholders  might  be  the  means  of  licensing 
every  other  man  in  Burlington;  and  thirteen  might  license 
every  housekeeper,  themselves  included. 

Samuel  Aaron. 
Burlington,  N.  J.,  April  26,  iSjj. 


The  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Managers 
of  the  Burlington  Temperance  Society. 

February,  1836. 

Six  public  meetings  have  been  called  by  the  board  dur- 
ing the  past  year,  several  of  which  were  numerously  attended. 
The  board  themselves  have  held  nine  meetings.  The  net  in- 
crease of  members  during  the  year  has  been  about  fifty,  com- 
posed chiefly  of  young  persons.  The  number  of  consistent 
members  now  living  is  believed  to  be  about  five  hundred.  In 
stating  this  estimate  it  is  proper  to  say  that  the  Secretary  keeps 
a  list  with  great  care,  which  is  frequently  revised  and  corrected 
by  the  board  as  circumstances  may  require. 

A  sum  of  $91.56  has  been  raised  by  the  voluntary  con- 
tributions of  the  members  and  others,  and  appropriated  partly 
to  the  support  of  the  State  Agent,  partly  in  aid  of  the  county 
society's  publications,  partly  in  the  purchase  and  distribution 
of  the  "Temperance  Recorder"  and  "Intelligencer,"  and  in 
payment  of  expenses  incidental  to  public  meetings. 

The  number  of  taverns  within  the  society's  limits  is  four; 
of  anti-temperance  stores,  including  one  small  shop,  is  three. 
The  number  of  stores  where  ardent  spirit  is  not  sold  as  a  bev- 
erage is  five.     To  this  it  may  be  added,  on  good  authority, 


TEMPERANCE.  I  I  7 

that  there  is  no  distillery  of  any  kind  in  the  township,  nor  any 
distillery  of  grain  in  the  county  of  Burlington. 

The  deaths  occasioned  by  alcohol  within  the  township 
during  the  past  year  have,  it  is  believed,  been  fewer  than  com- 
mon; though  several  persons  have  fallen  victims,  nameless, 
dishonored,  and  too  soon  forgotten.  Its  use  and  influence  at 
the  polls  still  continue,  to  the  scandal  of  the  political  parties, 
the  guilt  of  many  zealous  politicians,  and  the  degradation  of 
republican  institutions. 

The  board  owe  it  to  themselves  and  their  constituents  to 
state  that  they  have  expended  some  money,  much  valuable 
time,  and  faithful  and  often  painful  labor  of  head  and  heart  in 
support  of  the  cause  which  you  have  committed  to  their  man- 
agement. They  have  conscientiously  labored  in  discharge  of 
their  duty  to  injure  no  man,  and  even  to  offend  no  man.  Their 
chief  support  has  been  the  conviction  that  you  were  generally 
true-hearted  adherents  to  the  pledge,  and  the  hope  that  the 
righteous  and  most  salutary  principles  of  temperance  may  ere 
long  generally  prevail.  Nor  is  there  reason  to  be  wearied 
with  toil  or  intimidated  by  opposition.  Though  fewer  names 
have  been  added  this  year  than  usual,  let  it  be  remembered 
there  were  fewer  to  add.  The  society  claims  many  as  its  fast 
friends  of  those  second  to  none  in  this  community  for  intelli- 
gence or  virtue,  and  rejoices  that  a  number  more  of  the  same 
stamp  firmly  practice  without  professing  its  principles.  It  is 
also  a  source  of  joyful  gratitude  that  far  more  children  are 
nursed  without  the  use  of  whisky  baths  and  alcoholic  ano- 
dynes, and  that  very  many  youth  are  growing  up  without  the 
taint  of  morning  bitters  and  sugared  sips  from  visitors'  and 
parents'  unfinished  glasses.  Thus,  a  generation  born  and 
trained  to  abstinence  are  arising  to  bless  and  to  perpetuate  the 
temperance  reformation. 

We  close  with  one  reflection.  To  use  or  to  administer 
poisons,  destructive  of  human  life,  has  always  been  considered 
a  legal  and  moral  wrong.  A  general  exception,  however,  has 
been  made  in  favor  of  one  singular  and  solitary  article,  which, 
to  the  destruction  of  the  body,  adds  the  eclipse  of  the  mind 
and  the  sacrifice  of  the  immortal  soul.  Why  such  an  excep- 
tion should  secure  the  currency  of  opinion  and  the  support  of 


I  I  8  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

law,  we  do  not  stop  to  inquire,  but  express  our  ardent  hope 
and  firm  confidence  that  the  light  and  the  sound  of  the  tem- 
perance reform  will  rouse  the  human  conscience  to  consider 
the  question  in  its  application  to  alcohol.  Whether  an  ac- 
countable creature  can  innocently  contribute  directly  or  in- 
directly to  the  support  of  a  practice  which  produces  evil,  only 
evil,  and  that  continually.  When  this  question  in  this  appli- 
cation shall  have  been  decided  right  by  the  enlightened  con- 
sciences of  our  fellow  men,  the  triumph  of  temperance  will 
have  come.  It  cannot  be  asked  that  temperance  truths  should 
make  all  men  sober,  any  more  than  the  divine  truth  in  gen- 
eral should  render  all  men  Christians.  An  obligation  will  be 
proved  and  pointed  out,  binding  man  to  the  throne  of  infinite 
authority  and  justice,  and  there  he  must  be  left  instructed, 
warned  and  entreated  at  his  own  peril.  The  time  is  not  far 
distant,  we  fully  believe,  when  no  man  can  ask  or  expect  the 
blessing  of  heaven  on  the  manufacture,  sale  or  use  of  intoxicat- 
ing liquors. 


Notes  on  the  License  System. 

The  satisfaction  I  feel  in  the  political  arrangements,  which 
allow  a  hearing  before  our  legislators.  The  pleasure  and  con- 
fidence I  feel  in  the  powers  and  influence  of  legislators  in  our 
own  country.     You  are  the  depository  dispensers  of  law. 

I.  What  we  ask  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  our 
laws  on  the  subject,  which  are  meant  to  be  restrictive.  The 
original  mistake  of  the  legislature  in  letting  out  this  serpent, 
alcohol.  He  has  not  only  crawled  but  flown.  He  has  become 
a  many-headed  dragon — wine,  ale,  beer,  brandy,  gin,  rum,  etc. 
The  license  system  has  always  been  meant  to  be  restrictive. 
It  has  meant  to  make  good  men — the  conservators  of  the  pub- 
lic welfare.  The  use  of  alcoholic  drinks  was  deemed  needful, 
and  its  retail  was  first  restricted  to  apothecaries.  The  snake 
grew,  and  they  confined  him  to  good  inn-keepers.  He  grew 
still  bigger,  and  they  gave  him  in  special  charge  to  formidable 
statutes.     He  grew,  and  they  gave  him  to  twelve  free-holders. 


TEMPERANCE.  I  I  9 

He  grew,  and  they  committed  him  to  the  common  pleas. 
Now  we  ask  to  give  him  up  to  public  opinion.  Don't  hedge 
him  in,  but  let  public  opinion  at  him.  Lend  the  rope  and 
hook  of  the  law,  catch  him  and  bind  him  fast. 

II.  We  believe  that  the  operation  of  the  present  laws  is 
oppressive.  Could  this  be  properly  pressed,  I  am  sure  it 
would  have  great  effect.  I  shall  not  dwell  on  all  the  oppress- 
ions. The  pains  inflicted  on  sensibility,  idleness,  crime, 
anguish,  shame*  misery,  widowhood  and  orphanage.  Look  at 
our  own  temptations  and  those  of  our  children.  These  awful 
facts  have  been  poured  "on  the  nation's  naked  heart,"  till  it  is 
turned  to  stone.  But  I  would,  if  I  could,  expose  the  oppres- 
siveness of  this  system  in  the  point  of  taxation.  Taxation,  for 
the  most  useful  purposes,  especially  when  direct,  is  unpopular. 
Taxation,  without  consent,  was  deemed  revolutionary.  Tax- 
ation, as  a  bounty  on  the  accursed  orgies  of  Bacchus;  what 
shall  we  say  of  it?  Ninety  taverns  in  the  county  of  Burling- 
ton selling  liquors  amounting  to  $40,000,  producing  a  direct 
tax  of  $10,000. 

III.  The  remedy  we  propose  is  peaceable.  What  is  it? 
To  withhold  the  privilege  to  impose  taxation,  unless  a  man 
has  the  deliberate  consent  and  approbation  of  the  majority  of 
tax-payers.  This  method  avoids  the  noise  and  strife  of  elec- 
tions. It  gives  the  applicant  fair  and  full  access  to  the  under- 
standing and  hearts  of  men,  and  will  quiet  the  rejected.  It 
gives  occasion  to  every  tax-payer  calmly  to  consider  his  re- 
sponsibility. 

IV.  The  remedy  is  republican.  This  is  about  self-evi- 
dent. With  due  respect  to  those  who  say  so,  it  seems  to  me 
like  quibbling  to  call  this  measure  an  appeal  to  force.  Nor 
need  I  dwell  upon  the  moral  quibble,  nor  on  the  cavils  about 
putting  all  business  on  the  same  footing.  Here  is  a  contro- 
versy on  equal  terms.  The  light  of  public  opinion  is  hidden 
under  a  bushel. 

V.  It  bids  fair  to  be  eventually  and  quietly  efficacious. 
Some  will  grant,  some  withhold.  The  subject  will  be  con- 
stantly agitated.  In  contest  and  rational  discussion,  truth  will 
prevail. 


120  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 


Temperance  Meeting. 

Resolved,  That  human  society  and  the  proper  regulation 
thereof,  called  law,  are  ordained  of  God. 

Resolved,  That  human  law  is  a  "rule  of  civil  conduct, 
prescribed  by  the  supreme  power  in  a  state,  commending 
what  is  right  and  prohibiting  what  is  wrong."  That  "its  ob- 
ject is  to  ascertain  what  is  just,  honorable  and  expedient;  and 
when  that  is  discovered,  it  is  proclaimed  as  a  general  ordi- 
nance, equally  and  impartially  to  all."  That  its  proper  ten- 
dency is  to  produce  that  state  of  society  in  which  "every  man 
shall  do  to  others  as  he  would  that  others  should  do  to  him." 

Resolved,  That  the  legislators  of  this  land  are  bound  by 
their  oath  of  office  to  obliterate  every  statute  discordant  with 
the  foregoing  principles,  and  to  make  such  enactments,  and 
such  only  as  strictly  agree  with  them. 

Resolved,  That  every  judicial  and  executive  officer  is 
bound  to  explain  and  enforce  such  laws  according  to  their 
true  meaning,  and  to  resign  his  authority  rather  than  sustain 
unrighteous  statutes. 

Resolved,  That  the  voters  in  our  country  are,  under  God, 
the  creators  of  all  legal  and  political  functionaries  or  agents, 
and  are  therefore  bound  by  their  duty  to  God,  to  themselves, 
to  their  posterity,  and  to  all  the  world,  to  choose  such  men 
only  to  make  and  administer  our  laws  as  have  given  proof 
that  they  fear  God,  love  justice,  hate  covetousness,  and  under- 
stand and  approve  the  above  definition  of  law. 

Resolved,  That  the  statutes  and  usages  which  sanction 
and  support  the  sale  and  use  of  alcohol  as  a  beverage,  are 
entirely  contradictory  of  the  principles  above  laid  down;  that 
they  permit  what  is  wrong,  and  prevent  what  is  right;  that 
their  effects  are  unjust,  dishonorable  and  inexpedient;  that 
they  are  unequal  and  partial  in  granting  privileges  to  a  few; 
that  they  allow  men  to  do  to  others,  and  to  their  families,  what 
they  themselves  would  shudder  to  receive  in  return. 


TEMPERANCE.  12  1 

Therefore,  resolved,  That  we  will  vote  for  no  man  for  a 
public  office,  unless  he  is  known  to  us  to  be  opposed  to  the 
legalizing  of  the  rum  traffic,  and  distinctly  pledged  to  prevent 
the  supply  of  alcoholic  beverages,  either  by  penal  laws  or  by 
referring  the  matter  to  the  people  at  the  polls. 

Resolved,  That  there  be  a  committee  to  ascertain  and  re- 
port to  us  through  the  newspapers,  or  by  hand-bills,  the  views 
of  the  candidates  for  state  and  county  offices,  who  shall  be 
presented  for  our  suffrages. 

Resolved,  That  said  committee  call  a  meeting  of  the  voters, 
if  they  deem  it  necessary,  during  the  present  month. 

September  ./,  18  jj. 


Petition. 


To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Pennsylvania : 

The  subscribers,  taxables  of  the  county  of  Montgomery, 
respectfully  represent,  that  they  are  much  aggrieved  by  the 
existing  and  increasing  evils  of  intemperance,  and  that  they 
deem  it  particularly  unjust  that  those  opposed  to  the  liquor 
traffic  should  be  taxed  along  with  those  in  favor  of  it,  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  pauperism  and  crime  which  flow  from 
intemperance.  As  they  have  no  share,  and  desire  none,  in 
the  profits  of  the  traffic,  they  wish  to  be  exonerated  from  all 
legal  obligation  to  share  in  the  expense  it  creates. 

Further,  it  has  always  been  the  spirit  of  American  legis- 
lation to  permit  no  business  to  impose  its  cost  and  losses  on 
those  not  engaged  in  it.  The  subscribers  do,  therefore,  earn- 
estly entreat  you  to  enact  a  law  as  explicit  and  binding  as 
possible,  making  the  liquor  dealers,  and  those  who  sustain 
them,  personally  and  pecuniarily  responsible  for  the  injuries 
and  expenses  now  inflicted  by  the  traffic  on  the  public  at  large. 
Let  the  purposed  liquor  dealer  have  the  written  approval  of 
one-half  the  taxables  in  his  township,  borough  or  ward,  before 
he  is  licensed  to  sell.     Let  him  give  a  bond,  with  ample  sure- 


122  REV.  Sx\MUEL    AARON. 

ties,  in  a  sum  not  less  than  $1,000,  for  his  strict  compliance 
with  the  law.  Let  him  and  his  sureties  be  suable  on  said 
bond,  by  any  competent  member  or  friend  of  any  family  in- 
jured by  liquor  supplied  by  said  dealer;  let  the  damages  be 
awarded  at  the  discretion  of  a  jury  or  arbitrators,  and  let  the 
dealer  always  pay  costs  of  suit,  if  proved  to  have  supplied  any 
liquor  as  charged.  Let  the  directors  of  the  poor  be  compelled 
to  sue,  as  aforesaid,  for  the  support  of  any  person  or  family 
becoming  a  public  burden,  in  consequence,  wholly  or  in  part, 
of  using  liquor  supplied  by  said  dealer;  and  let  the  dealer  pay 
costs  if  proved  to  have  supplied,  as  aforesaid.  Let  the  de- 
fendant, aforesaid,  be  entitled  to  maintain  a  suit,  to  compel  his 
fellow-dealers  to  contribute  a  portion  of  the  damages  or  fines 
imposed  on  him.  Let  any  attempt  to  collect  a  liquor  debt 
subject  the  plaintiff  to  the  loss  of  the  claim  and  costs.  Let 
every  unlicensed  dealer  be  subject  to  fine  and  imprisonment. 
Let  no  suit  for  libel  be  maintained  by  a  liquor  dealer  when  the 
truth  of  the  charges  against  him  can  be  proved.  Let  the  coro- 
ner in  cases  of  suicide,  manslaughter  or  murder,  as  the  conse- 
quence of  intemperance,  be  compelled  to  ascertain  if  possible, 
and  publish  in  his  verdict,  the  name  of  the  furnisher  of  the 
liquor.  Let  such  furnisher  of  liquor  be  indictable  for  a  mis- 
demeanor, and  punishable  with  fine  and  imprisonment. 

Temperance  Committee. 
Norristoivn,  i8ji. 


A  Plea  for  Total  Abstinence. 

Men,  Women  and  Children — Permit  one  who  desires  your 
truest  welfare,  and  that  of  all  the  world,  to  claim  your  thought- 
ful and  serious  attention  to  a  few  considerations  connected 
with  the  temperance  reform. 

What  is  the  fundamental  principle  of  this  reform?  Is  it 
not  that  alcohol  is  the  most  insidious  and  the  most  destruct- 
ive of  all  poisons?  "Wine  is  a  mocker,"  insidious;  "strong 
drink  is  raging,"  a  fierce  destroyer.  Such  is  its  description  in 
that  most  discriminating  of  all  books,  the  Bible.     The  experi- 


TEMPERANCE.  1 23 

ence  and  inventions  of  men  confirm  the  testimony.  Other 
drugs  and  poisons  have  each  some  one  peculiar  effect  upon 
the  human  system.  Opium  acts  on  the  nervous  structure, 
perverts  the  imagination  to  idle  dreams,  and  destroys  the  whole 
man  by  the  indolence  and  lethargy  superinduced  through  that 
action.  Prussic  acid  and  some  of  the  mercurial  poisons  seize 
on  the  vital  fluids — on  some  more,  on  others  less — and  curdle 
and  corrode  them  through  a  brief  and  mortal  agony.  Arsenic, 
nux  vomica  and  others  act  on  the  stomach  in  different  ways, 
and  produce  death  or  great  injury.  The  poison  of  the  rattle- 
snake or  the  slaver  of  the  mad  dog  may  be  swallowed  with- 
out harm,    but   is   fatal    on   the    broken   skin.      Some   drugs 

'  stimulate  the  animal  propensities  to  more  than  brutal  excess; 
some  blotch  the  skin,  and  others  rot  the  bones.  But  it  is  re- 
served for  alcohol  to  perform  at  once  almost  all  the  functions 
of  other  poisons,  destroying  man  as  a  passive  and  helpless  vic- 
tim ;  and  last,  and  worst  of  all,  to  make  him  an  active  and  fear- 
ful agent  in  the  ruin  or  miser}/  of  all  around  him.  Not  only 
is  his  own  body  destroyed,  and  his  own  progeny  polluted  by 
the  bad  blood  he  transmits  to  them,  but  his  soul  is  demon- 
ized,  the  fountain  of  natural  affections  is  sealed  up,  or  its  pure 
streams  turned  into  the  waves  of  the  burning  lake,  so  that  he 
spurns  his  loving  wife,  loathes  his  sweet  children,  and  curses 
his  weeping  mother. 

Now  what  other  poison  does  all  this?  And  when  does 
alcohol  fail  of  such  tendencies?  And  how  often  do  its  influen- 
ces surpass,  infinitely  surpass,  all  powers  of  description?     If 

,the  foregoing  positions  are  true — if  they  are  but  very  partially 
true — should  not  every  moral  suasive  and  every  righteous 
legal  power  be  employed  to  put  away  this  poison  from  every 
human  life?  How  can  any  sensible  man  maintain  the  moder- 
ate use  of  such  an  article  on  the  same  ground  as  he  does  that 
of  wholesome  and  needful  food?  Does  the  use  of  food  tend 
at  all  to  make  a  man  a  devil  ?  Does  the  moderate  use  of  it 
tend  infallibly  to  gluttony?  Alcoholic  poisons  cause  intense 
bodily  suffering,  infatuate  the  mind,  tickle  the  nerves,  and  ex- 
cite the  brain.  Our  object  is  definite,  most  distinctly  marked 
— to  put  these  poisons  entirely  out  of  use.  The  true  remedy 
is  voluntary  total  abstinence. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Burlington,  N.  J.,  July  16,  1820. 

Esteemed  Friend — (Excuse  my  Quaker  introduction ;  you 
know  where  I  am.)  I  confess  with  no  small  shame  that  I  have 
transgressed  many  of  the  laws  of  politeness,  and  done  that 
which  should  forfeit  much  of  your  esteem  and  confidence,  by 
neglecting  to  answer  your  favor  for  so  long  a  time.  Yet,  as 
you  say,  "  I  am  selfish  enough  to  hope"  that  you  will  not  alto- 
gether discard  me  from  claims  of  intimacy,  and  receiving  once 
in  a  while  a  mark  of  your  regard  from  your  hand.  You  will 
admit,  and  so  will  all  my  acquaintances,  that  it  was  always  a 
foible  of  mine  to  disparage  or  underrate  my  own  abilities,  and 
that  among  other  things  I  always  professed  myself  unskilled 
in  the  art  of  letter  writing;  however  it  might  be  in  other  re- 
spects, in  this  I  certainly  told  the  truth.  And  if  you  till  this 
time  doubted  it,  I  may  now  cry  out  with  Falstaff,  "  Ecce  sig- 
num!" 

My  dear ,  you  are  now  about  to  become  a  lawyer, 

and  learn  to  tell  a  long  story;  you  will  then,  of  course,  not  be 
displeased  with  a  long  letter.  If  there  were  no  other  excuse^ 
for  my  delay,  this  might  suffice:  that  I  scrawl  enough  at  once 
to  last  a  long  time.  But  there  are  other  excuses.  I  will  not 
enumerate  many.  One  is  that  I  am  so  crowded  with  studies  at 
one  time,  and  so  beset  with  boys  at  another  who  are  too  idle  to 
learn  themselves  and  too  busy  to  suffer  others,  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  find  an  opportunity.  Your  observation  with  respect  to 
the  value  of  my  correspondence,  implying  that  I  could  please 
others  when  I  cannot  please  myself,  I  think  "savoreth  of  flat- 
tery," which  I  should  expect  from  almost  any  one  sooner  than 
you.  If  it  could  be  reduced  to  a  Q.  E.  D.,  speaking  geomet- 
rically, that  I  do  possess  the  faculty  of  interesting  my  friends, 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I  25 

I  would  certainly,  both  from  vanity  and  respect,  address  them 
more  frequently. 

I  learn  both  from  yourself  and  others  that  you  are  about 
to  "turn  over  a  new  leaf."  And  I  am  as  sincere  in  telling 
you,  as  I  am  happy  in  hearing  and  believing,  that  your  pros- 
pects are  very  fair  not  only  for  escaping  disgrace  but  for  ac- 
quiring honor.  Your  greatest  hindrance  was  always  diffidence  : 
but  it  is  now  time  to  shake  off  the  shackles  of  boyish  modesty 
and  assume  the  dignity  which  a  conscious  sense  of  manly 
worth  inspires.  Do  so,  my  friend;  and  ever  adhere  to  truth 
and  integrity,  and  you  will  find  that  though  mankind  are  an 
unco'  squad  they  will  pay  the  respect  due  to  merit  and  to  vir- 
tue, and  that  more  than  mediocrity  will  be  your  fortune.  For 
my  own  part  I  would  ask  no  better  fortune  than  a  character 
of  unimpeachable  honesty,  for  such  I  esteem  the  summum 
bonum  of  existence. 

With  regard  to  ambition  I  agree  with  you,  that  if  it  is 
ever  laudable  it  is  when  it  tends  to  the  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge. In  this  case,  however,  it  lays  us  under  some  severe  re- 
strictions, as  you  observe;  even  that,  among  others,  of  almost 
foro-ettin"'  the  existence  of  the  ladies.  But  so  it  is :  science  and 
a  ladies'  man  are  never  fond  of  one  another.  And  since  it  is 
probably  of  more  importance  to  fit  yourself  for  your  own 
emolument  and  your  country's  honor  than  to  become  the 
focus  of  a  score  of  ladies'  eyes,  when  law  and  love  confine 
you  to  one,  I  highly  approve  of  your  resolution,  arduous  as 
the  task  is,  of  forgetting  the  ladies.  Let  it  be  so;  at  least 
for  a  while.  Prepare  yourself  with  the  good  things  neces- 
sary, and  no  doubt  some  tender  fair  one  will  partake  of  your 
cheer  with  pleasure. 

It  would  be  trifling  indeed  for  me  to  hint  at  the  import- 
ance of  acquiring  knowledge;  it  would  be  an  insult  to  your 
good  sense;  it  would  be  a  servile  repetition  of  the  precept  of 
every  one — like  other  good  ones,  however,  too  seldom  reduced 
to  practice.  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  something  that  would 
please  you;  be  good  enough,  however,  to  receive  the  inten- 
tion for  the  act.  I  have  never  been  out  of  sight  of  Burlington 
since  I  came  here,  which  shows  that  I  have  been  contented ; 
indeed,  with  man)-  things  I  am  highly  pleased. 


126  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

I  have  just  commenced  learning  French;  terms,  three 
lessons  per  week,  $5  per  quarter.  The  school  is  probably  as 
creditable,  and  as  deservedly  so,  as  any  in  the  United  States. 
Our  teachers  far  surpass  my  expectations,  and  John  Gummere 
is  honored  with  the  correspondence  of  some  of  the  most  sci- 
entific men  in  this  country.  He  performs  some  philosophical 
experiments  now,  but  many  more  in  the  winter.  Some  of  the 
students  are  moral  and  decent,  and  some  are  quite  the  reverse. 
Some  steal  off  from  their  teachers  on  Sundays  and  spend  their 
time  and  money  over  the  flowing  goblets  of  Bacchus,  and 
many  of  them  are  as  familiar  with  the  awful  name  of  their  Cre- 
ator as  with  the  most  intimate  of  their  school-fellows. 

The  only  religious  societies  in  Burlington  are  the  Friends, 
Episcopalians,  Methodists  and  Baptists,  and  of  these  I  prefer 
the  Friends,  whose  meeting  I  attend,  together  with  most  of 
our  scholars,  about  three  times  a  week. 

I  will  omit  a  geographical  description  of  Burlington,  as 
there  is  nothing  remarkable  in  it.  It  is  the  residence,  how- 
ever, of  some  great  men,  such  as  the  venerable  Elias  Boudi- 
not,  Horace  Binney,  Gen.  Bloomfield,  and  Lawyers  Griffith, 
Chauncey  and  Mcllvain. 

Present  my  most  hearty  respects  to  Mr.  H ,  and  please 

to  tell  him  that  I  am  as  much  his  friend  as  if  I  did  write;  the 
only  thing  that  hinders  me  is  a  sort  of  pride  that  cannot  brook 
the  idea  of  inferiority.  There  is  no  one  whose  correspondence 
I  would  more  highly  value;  but  feeling  unable  to  give  par 
pari,  I  cannot  think  of  writing.  If  my  friend,  however,  will 
wait  till  I  grow  a  little  older  and  wiser,  he  will  find  me  most 
willing  to  become  a  Philocletes  to  Hercules. 

Be  particular  to  remember  me  to  all   my  friends.      Tell 

James  D he  has  immortalized  himself  by  his  toast,  the  4th 

of  July,  and  that  I  am  publishing  his  fame.  I  am  happy  to 
learn  your  father  is  restored  to  health;    my  sober  respects  to 

him  (my  ever  kind  friend)  and  Mrs. .     The  ladies,  too 

— but,  stay;  you  never  see  them.  However,  if  chance  should 
throw  them  in  your  way,  you  may  tell  them  "I  am  yet  alive." 

When  I  go  to I  hope  to  see  you  "face  to  face."     Till 

then  and  forever  you  have  for  your  welfare  the  sincere  wishes 
of  Samuel  Aaron. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


Burlington,  N.  J.,  January  23,  1821. 

My  Dear  Friend- — Without  transgressing  "truth  and  jus- 
tice," I  cannot  offer  any  excuse  for  my  negligence.  I  am  gen- 
erally busied  about  something  or  other,  to  be  sure;  but  none 
of  my  engagements  are  so  binding  as  to  justify  my  neglect  of 
a  correspondence  so  agreeable  and  so  profitable  as  yours.  You 
mention  the  probability  of  my  being  surprised  at  your  trans- 
gression of,  etc.  I  confess  your  treating  me  so  much  better 
than  I  deserved  did  indeed  surprise  me.  You  will  not  think 
that  I  rate  your  natural  kindness  too  meanly,  for  I  would 
hardly  have  expected  from  those  who  profess  to  be  my  very 
warmest  friends  such  promptness  to  oblige  me  where  their 
own  interest  was  so  entirely  unconcerned.  Thrown  upon  the 
world  as  I  am,  one  of  the  children  of  necessity,  I  have  more 
reason  than  many  others  who  want  no  assistance  to  remember 
with  gratitude  those  that  take  an  interest  in  my  welfare.  Mem- 
ory and  gratitude  must  both  desert  me  before  I  cease  to  re- 
gard your  father  as  one  especially  from  whom  I  have  received 
what  I  had  no  reason  to  expect — the  most  distinguished  marks 
of  favor  and  attention. 

But  to  the  point.  There  are  several  of  my  school-fellows 
who  inform  me  of  schools  that  I  can  have,  but  their  manner 
of  recommending  them  loses  its  effect  with  me,  for  they  make 
the  number  sixty  or  seventy  strong;  enough,  I  think,  to  craze 
the  clearest  brain.  A  thousand  pleasing  recollections,  which 
are  always  connected  with  a  place  that  has  long  been  our 
home,  the  theatre  of  our  favorite  pursuits  and  boyish  plea- 
sures, tend  to  make  D a  situation  in  my  view  preferable 

to  any  other,  and  I  would  rather  live  there  than  reign  any- 
where else.  It  is  absolutely  impracticable  for  me  to  leave  the 
school  here  in  less  than  two  weeks;  but  after  that  time  I  would 
cheerfully  acquiesce  in  your  father's  proposal,  provided  he 
could  entirely  free  me  from  teaching  Latin  and  Greek,  which 
I  am  positively  unfit  for.     Can  he  not  weather  it  out  until  the 

7th  of  February,  with  R 's  assistance  and  yours?     In  two 

weeks  I  shall  get  sufficient  knowledge  of  Fluxions  to  pursue 
the  study  alone,  and  I  am  now  determined  to  turn  mathema- 
tician in  my  own  defence. 


128  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Since  a  complete  knowledge  of  one  subject  alone  requires 
a  life-time,  if  we  wish  to  excel,  we  must  give  a  particular  sub- 
ject particular  attention.  First  rate  literary  acquirements  for 
me  are  out  of  the  question.  Mathematicians  are  scarce;  and 
those  who  excel  are  considered  eminent  persons.  I  do  not 
wish  to  divide  my  studies,  and  I  believe  they  must  be  mathe- 
matical.    For  this  reason  I  must  declare  "  pregnis  et  calcibus  " 

against  teaching  the  languages.     I  wish  you  or  Mr. 

would  write  me  immediately  on  the  receipt  of  this,  so  that  we 
may  both  stand  on  sure  footing  and  not  disappoint  or  misun- 
derstand each  other. 

The  young  men  of  Burlington,  in  connection  with  our 
students,  have  formed  a  society  for  the  encouragement  of  do- 
mestic manufactures.  There  are  about  fifty  members,  some 
of  them  very  respectable,  and  some  rather  the  contrary.  We 
admit  none  above  thirty  years  old  but  as  honorary  members. 
The  belongers  are  generally  above  eighteen  years  of  age. 
You  will  not  think  me  more  than  usually  vain  if  I  tell  you 
that  I  was  president.  However,  I  resigned  last  Monday  night, 
and  one  of  our  Philadelphia  boys  was  elected.     Can't  you  raise 

up  such  an  association  in  D ?     I  forgot  to  tell  you,  that 

if  a  member  was  caught  with  a  coat  of  foreign  cloth,  he  must 
pay  five  dollars  fine  or  be  expelled. 

We  have  now  in  our  school  a  debating  and  recitation 
society;  but  I  think  one  will  kill  the  other  before  long.  I  am 
sorry  yours  has  fallen  through  in  D .  It  is  a  very  pro- 
per place  for  such  a  club,  and  I  think  you  ought  to  have  one. 

There  is  an  article  in  the  papers  about  my  brother  M 

having  killed  a  wild  cat,  and  I  am  daily  interrogated  on  the 
subject.  I  have  seen  no  account  of  it  myself,  but  whatever 
the  fact  really  was,  it  is  here  magnified  into  a  great  exploit. 
It  is  disagreeable  to  write  or  compose  this  morning,  January 
24th,  for  the  mercury  is  eleven  degrees  below  zero,  and  the 
stove  completely  barricaded  by  boys,  so  that  between  frost 
and  noise  my  ideas  are  all  driven  away.  I  am  expecting  a 
"  feast  of  reason  and  a  flow  of  soul "  when  I  see  you,  which  I 
hope  will  be  shortly.  I  am  glad  you  went  to  see  and  hear 
Kean;  I  must  ask  you  a  thousand  questions  about  him.  To 
your  family,  and  my  friends  generally,  I  would  be  remembered. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 29 

Think  of  the  cold  weather    and    excuse    my  poorly  written 
epistle.     With  respect  and  affection,  yours,  etc. 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Burlington,  September  19,  1822. 

My  Dear  Friend — Although  I  promised  to  write  to  you 
soon,  partly  from  a  press  of  business  and  partly  through  natu- 
ral indolence,  I  have  thus  long  neglected  to  perform  a  really 
pleasing  task,  and  one  which,  I  can  truly  say,  it  was  not  my 
intention  to  omit  so  long.  It  is  evening,  and  I  am  writing  in 
the  school-room.  The  boys  are  not  very  still,  and  I  have  to 
be  calling  to  "order"  pretty  often,  so  that  I  have  not  quite  a> 
fair  opportunity  to  muster  up  my  thoughts  and  give  you  the 
best  of  them. 

I  have  often  laughed  when  thinking  of  the  sang  froid  with, 
which  you  receive  your  friends  and  part  from  them;  and  when 
I  lately  left  you  I  was  better  pleased  with  our  parting  cere- 
mony than  if  it  had  been  such  as  would  have  taken  place  be- 
tween   and  a  friend.     Although  our  words  were  very 

few,  I  was  none  the  less  inclined  to  think  you  wished  me  well; 
nor  did  I  feel  any  diminution  of  the  warm  regard  I  have  long 
had  for  you. 

Some  new  things  must  have  taken  place  in  D be- 
fore this  time,  and  I  am  all  anxiety  to  have  your  own  curious 
kind  of  an  account  of  them.  For  you  must  know  I  think  you 
great  at  description  of  this  "sort  of  thing." 

I  find  by  the  paper  just  received  that  "Dennis"  has  been 
answered.  It  is  remarked  that  he  "does  not  deserve  a  reply";: 
and  it  is  certainly  true  that  a  sorry  reply  he  gets. 

You  either  have,  or  pretend  to  have,  the  advantage  of  me, 
in  knowing  my  style,  as  you  call  it.  I  cannot  boast  this  with; 
regard  to  you,  and  therefore  propose,  for  mutual  amusement, 
that  we  make  a  mutual  disclosure  of  our  authorship,  if  either 
should  scribble  anything  for  the  paper,  and  criticise  privately; 
in  our  own  letters  each  other's  faults.  These  remarks  should 
be  delivered  in  the  blunt  and  candid  language  of  truth  and 
honest  friendship. 


I3O  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

This  is  now  the  fifth  week  of  my  being  here,  and  the  third 
of  my  teaching.  I  commenced  teaching  sooner  than  I  ex- 
pected; but  perhaps  it  is  as  much  to  my  advantage.  I  teach 
all  the  grammarians  and  attend  to  the  reading.  This  takes 
up  two  hours  and  a  half.  The  rest  of  the  time  I  do  whatever 
wants  doing.  J.  Gummere  has  been  away  two  days  and  left 
to  me  the  charge  of  the  school.  The  boys  are  most  trouble- 
some after  they  go  to  bed.  It  is  rather  a  temptation  for  them 
to  cut  up  when  there  are  twenty  or  thirty  of  them  near  each 
other  at  the  time  of  going  to  bed  and  getting  up,  when  they 
are  particularly  inclined  to  mischief. 

I  am  reading  Telemachus  in  French;  find  it  pretty  easy, 
and  can  get  ten  pages  in  an  hour.  I  have  here  a  most  excel- 
lent opportunity  to  improve  in  many  kinds  of  knowledge,  but 
not  much  in  general  reading. 

Remember  me  to  all  my  friends.  I  am  afraid  my  letter 
is  not  worth  a  fi'-penny  bit;  but  if  you  think  so,  and  let  me 
know,  I  will  try  and  mend  in  the  next. 

Yours  with  all  my  heart, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Burlington,  February  10,  1823. 

My  Dear  Friend — I  received  yours,  requiring  an  answer 
"right  on  the  reel";  and  certainly  intended  to  have  one  spun 
sooner,  but  have  been  negligent  as  usual.  I  had  heard  of  your 
illness,  and  was  glad  to  find  you  in  a  fair  way  to  recover.  I 
hope  you  are  now  enjoying  excellent  health  and  your  usual 
good  spirits.  You  have  given  me  a  pleasing  and  humorous 
account  of  your  debate,  and  I  hope  I  shall  hereafter  be  obliged 
to  you  for  similar  favors.  I  have  chosen  your  question  for 
discussion,  and  taken  in  my  opinion  for  the  best  side. 

I  assert  that  the  spendthrift  is  a  character  much  more  in- 
jurious to  society  than  the  miser.  To  do  injury  in  society  it 
is  necessary  for  the  man  who  does  it  to  be  a  social  being. 
The  domestic,  private  virtues  or  vices  have  but  little  influ- 
ence;   if  they  spread  at  all,  they  are  limited  by  very  narrow 


CORRESPONDENCE.  !  3  I 

bounds.  I  admit  that  the  ruling  passions  of  the  miser  and  the 
spendthrift  are  equally  corrosive  to  the  soul;  perhaps,  indeed, 
those  of  the  miser  are  more  abhorrent  to  the  character  of  a 
good  citizen,  considered  within  themselves.  But  the  limita- 
tion to  which  they  are  subjected  is  what  makes  them  less  poi- 
sonous to  the  virtue  of  the  community  than  the  more  agree- 
able, and  consequently  more  prevalent,  vices  of  the  prodigal. 
If,  as  you  observed,  "the  miser  chooses  to  starve  himself,  let 
him  do  it;"  the  effect  on  society,  if  any  is  produced,  will  be 
slight  and  transient, — a  wretch,  despised  as  far  as  known,  has 
made  room  for  a  better  citizen. 

Many  traits  in  the  character  of  the  spendthrift  have  their 
attractions  with  most  persons.  His  profusion  is  for  a  while 
called  liberality;  his  dissolute  manners,  a  noble  independence 
of  mind.  The  simplicity  and  fervor  of  the  youthful  heart  are 
captivated  by  these  false  names,  and  the  companions  of  the 
prodigal,  who  are  never  few,  are  often  driving  in  the  current 
of  intemperance  while  they  think  themselves  still  on  the  firm 
footing  of  virtue.  The  miser  represents  a  heap  of  filth  covered 
up  and  prevented  from  doing  harm.  The  corruption  of  the 
spendthrift  taints  the  whole  moral  atmosphere  around  him. 
The  former  is  a  self  destroyer ;  the  latter,  like  Samson,  together 
with  himself,  overwhelms  many.  The  miser  secretly  and  si- 
lently hoards  up  wealth,  acquired  rather  by  a  self  deprivation 
of  the  comforts  of  life  than  by  defrauding  others,  for  few  will 
have  intercourse  with  so  odious  a  being;  the  spendthrift 
wastes  the  substance  of  his  fathers  in  "riotous  living."  The 
coveting  wretch  has  no  friend;  the  prodigal,  like  Altamont, 
has,  and,  like  Altamont,  ruins  him.  The  one  defrauds  his 
neighbor  of  a  sum  of  money,  perhaps,  if  occasion  offer;  the 
other  allures  his  associates  into  habits  like  his  own,  and  thus 
effects  the  sacrifice  of  their  immortal  interests.  The  miser 
drags  on  a  miserable  old  age  in  his  own  hovel ;  the  spend- 
thrift becomes  the  tenant  of  a  prison  or  an  alms-house.  The 
former  is  found  dead  beside  his  gold;  the  other  is,  sometimes 
at  least,  led  out  before  the  multitude  to  a  shameful  death,  a 
dreadful  exhibition  of  the  effects  of  human  depravity;  or,  per- 
haps, with  a  still  lofty  spirit  and  outrageous  hand  he  termi- 
nates his  own  existence;    or,  most  likely,  he  expires  among 


I32  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

his  equals  in  wretchedness  in  the  house  where  common  char- 
ity just  gives  enough  to  misery  to  support  life.  You  will  not 
argue  that  the  spendthrift,  in  the  profuseness  with  which  he 
lavishes  his  money,  is  a  supporter  of  the  public  prosperity. 
You  will  not  say  that  he  enables  the  indigent  to  live  or  the 
industrious  to  thrive  by  squandering  his  property.  Alas! 
none  profit  by  his  profusion  but  taverns  and  gamblers.  His 
good  things  glut  the  votaries  of  vice,  and  his  abundance  is 
poured  into  the  sink  of  infamy.  The  miser  contributes,  how- 
ever unwillingly,  his  part  to  the  public  treasury,  and  this  com- 
prises most  of  what  he  gives  either  for  good  or  evil. 

I  must  speak  of  the  evil  resulting  to  the  families  of  the 
wretched  subjects  of  my  discussion.  I  have  seldom  known 
covetousness  to  produce  the  ruin  of  wife,  children,  parents, 
friends.  In  the  shipwreck  of  his  character,  the  avaricious 
wretch  himself  only  suffers.  But  what  I  see  I  believe;  and  I 
have  seen,  and  so  have  you,  the  dreadful  effects  of  intemper- 
ance and  prodigality.  I,  myself,  have  witnessed  the  tears  and 
distresses  of  an  amiable  and  high  spirited  woman  who  was  tied 
to  a  spendthrift  husband.  That  woman  I  saw  in  the  course  of 
four  or  five  years  broken-hearted,  and  hurried  prematurely  to 
the  grave.  I  wish  to  attach  no  particular  importance  to  this 
individual  fact.  I  only  mention  it  as  in  point;  it  has  made  an 
impression  which  can  never  be  worn  away. 

To  conclude;  since  we  are  to  judge  of  evil  by  its  preva- 
lence as  well  as  character,  I  believe  that  the  spendthrift,  who  is 
an  open  violator  of  the  precepts  of  morality  and  dictates  of 
reason,  is  a  far  more  injurious  member  of  the  community  than 
the  miser,  whose  habits  are  domestic,  and  vileness  not  exposed. 

You  will  answer  me  soon  and  at  good  length,  I  hope.  I 
suppose  I  must  reply  again  to  give  you  an  opportunity  of 
choosing  your  subject  and  your  side.  I  desire  you  to  spare 
me  a  little  in  your  answer,  as  I  dislike  in  a  race  to  be  too  far 
outrun.  You  charge  me  with  flattery;  but  I  cannot  for  my 
life  help  thinking  you  far  my  superior  in  taste  with  regard  to 
writing.  You  require  an  explanation  of  my  remarks  respect- 
ing your  piece.  My  criticism  would  have  been  "needless," 
because  to  me  there  were  no  obvious  faults;  "improper,"  be- 
cause I  certainly  could  not  have  improved  it.     You  must  not 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 33 

be  discouraged  by  my  first  essay;  but  try  the  experiment  right 
fairly,  the  result  may  be  a  mutual  if  not  an  equal  improvement. 
Tell  me  whether  this  last  phrase  is  correct,  "mutual  if  not 
equal."  I  will  send  R a  song  with  regard  to  the  Ren- 
contre of  the  "Baron  Las  Cases"  with  "Sir  Hudson  Lawe." 
If  you  have  not  seen  the  "Voice  from  St.  Helena,"  get  it,  and 
read  it.  Be  good  enough,  if  you  think  of  it,  and  see  Mr. 
Miner,  to  ask  him  on  what  terms  he  will  print  an  "Almanac 
adapted  to  the  meridian  and  latitude  of  Doylestown,  care- 
full)'  calculated  by  Samuel  Aaron"?     Mind,  I  am  in  earnest. 

Give  my  love  to  all  my  friends.  You  must  tell  me  more 
news  than  I  do  you,  and  remember  that  I  am  your  devoted 
and  most  sincere  friend,  Samuel  Aaron. 

Esq.     Excuse  the  Title. 

A  lady  said  to  the  Governor  of  New  Hampshire,  "Will 
your  Excellency  have  a  little  cream  in  your  Excellency's  tea?" 


Burlington,  April  24,  1824. 
My  Esteemed  Friend — Although,  like  you,  I  have  nothing 
to  say,  I  will,  nevertheless,  attempt  to  fill  up  three  pages  of  my 
sheet.  So  diametrically  opposite  are  our  pursuits  in  life  that 
anything  immediately  connected  with  them  would  hardly  af- 
ford matter  of  correspondence;  yet  I  think  our  estimates  of 
men  and  manners,  our  ideas  of  honor  and  principle,  of  vice 
and  virtue,  and  perhaps  our  opinions  in  politics,  are  not  so 
dissimilar.  But  I  fear  I  am  a  little  too  fast  in  thus  identifying 
our  political  partialities.  You  are  for  the  Harrisburg  ticket, 
Jackson  and  Calhoun;  I  am  not.  I  am  for  John  Quincy 
Adams  and  General  Jackson  (an  opinion,  of  course,  of  great 
consequence  to  the  nation),  because  the  former  is  our  most 
experienced  statesman,  and  the  latter  a  character  next  in 
grade,  our  ablest  warrior.  Even  here  we  do  no  doubt  really 
agree  in  sentiment,  only  that  you,  independent  as  you  are, 
must  be  somewhat  warped  by  the  logic  of  some  of  your  best 
and  most  important  friends.  I  do  believe  there  are  very  many 
who  have  a  decided  preference  for  Adams  that  do  not  openly 


134  REV-  SAMUEL    AARON. 

declare  for  him,  from  some  cause  which  it  is  difficult  to  ac- 
count for  in  a  very  rational  way,  but  which  arises  from  the 
complicate  "operation"  of  party  machinery. 

Four  of  us  here  have  subscribed  for  the  "American 
Monthly  Magazine."  I  suppose  you  are  acquainted  with  it. 
We  have  received  four  numbers,  and  I  have  glanced  over 
them  all,  but  I  do  not  think  it  to  possess  much  merit.  There 
are  sketches  of  Jackson  and  Clay  that  I  like  pretty  well,  but 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  most  insipid  poetry  and  a  goodly  por- 
tion of  love  affairs  in  the  truly  vapid  style.  The  editor  is  said 
to  be  the  author  of  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner."     He  does 

one  thing  that  is  very  well — only  I  fear,  like  F 's  political 

exertions,  it  may  produce  an  effect  contrary  to  his  intentions 
— he  reprobates  Byron's  celebrated  writings,  and  pronounces 
them  entirely  undeserving  of  public  patronage,  and  extremely 
prejudicial  to  taste  and  morals.  All  this  I  conceive  to  be  very 
true,  and  most  heartily  wish  it  to  have  general  effect.  I  do 
not  read  Byron's  poetry,  but  hear  enough  of  it  to  disgust  me. 

I  sincerely  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  tell  you  news 
that  might  gratify  you;  a  difficulty  which  you  do  not  en- 
counter in  writing  to  me;    for  what  is  there  connected  with 

D that  is  not  most  welcome  to  me?    and  emphatically  so 

when  coming  from  yourself. 

John  Gummere  has  gone  a  journey  which  will  carry 
him  perhaps  to  North  Carolina,  and  keep  him  from  home 
about  four  weeks.  He  is  accompanying  Stephen  Grailette 
(whom  you  may  remember)  part  of  his  way  on  a  religious 
tour,  which  he  is  making  in  the  southern  and  southwestern 
states.  The  Quakers  in  New  Orleans  are  exceedingly  des- 
pised, and  I  am  afraid  poor,  old,  honest  Stephen  will  fare  al- 
most as  ill  as  his  venerable  namesake  in  days  of  old. 

Please  remember  me  kindly  to  all  my  friends. 
Your  sincere  friend, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 35 


[On  hoard  a  canai.  packet  on  the  great  Hudson  and  Erie  Canal,  now 
lying  in  the  City  of  Schenectady,  State  of  New  York.] 

June  4,  1833. 

Dear  E. — I  have  reason  to  be  thankful  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  my  life  and  health,  and  sincerely  hope  you  may  be 
enjoying  the  good  gifts  of  a  bounteous  providence.  I  staid 
longer  at  Philadelphia  than  I  intended,  chiefly  through  the 
persuasion  of  Mr.  Brantley,  who  had  a  protracted  meeting  in 
his  house  in  connection  with  the  Central  Union  Association. 
I  preached  there  on  Wednesday  evening.  On  Thursday  after- 
noon I  reached  Burlington,  where  I  preached  on  Friday  eve- 
ning.    Many  of  the  hearers  were  Friends. 

The  most  wonderful  of  my  adventures  is  now  to  be  told. 
I  conversed  with  Mr.  Gummere  and  Mr.  Atherton  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  school,  and  have  made  up  my  mind  to  embrace 

their  proposition.     Mr.  G ,  as  I  told  you,  proposes  to  go 

to  Friends'  School,  West  of  Philadelphia,  and  leave  his  philo- 
sophical apparatus  and  his  large  library  for  our  use,  and  pro- 
portion the  rent  to  the  number  of  our  scholars.     Mr.  A 

proposes  to  take  the  whole  charge  of  the  household  economy, 
and  that  I  should  reside  in  a  private  residence  and  manage  the 
lectures  on  natural  philosophy.  This  fall,  therefore,  you  may 
think  of  becoming  a  resident  of  Burlington,  if  life  and  health 
permit. 

I  left  Burlington  Saturday  noon,  took  the  railroad  at 
Bordentown,  rode  on  it  thirty-five  miles  to  South  Amboy  at 
the  rate  of  twelve  miles  per  hour;  took  steamboat  there  and 
arrived  in  New  York  about  sunset  Saturday  evening ;  stayed  at 
New  York  till  Monday  morning  at  seven  o'clock.  I  went  to 
hear  Mr.  Cone  on  Sunday  morning  and  to  St.  Paul's  Church 
in  the  afternoon,  and  Dr.  McCauley's  lecture  room  in  the  eve- 
ning. Took  steamboat  North  America  for  Albany  (the  swift- 
est perhaps  in  the  world)  and  arrived  in  Albany  before  sunset. 
There  is  much  sublime  scenery  on  the  North  river,  but  the 
land  is  all  barren.  Some  mountains  on  the  shore  rise  to  a 
height  of  about  twelve-hundred  feet.  Albany  is  a  place  of 
great  business ;  has  some  beautiful  buildings  and  a  great  num- 


I36  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

ber  of  churches.  I  went  on  Monday  evening  to  Mr.  Welsh's 
meeting-house  to  attend  a  concert,  but  as  he  was  sick  he  was 
not  present.  I  stayed  at  the  Temperance  house  in  Albany, 
and  left  there  this  morning  (Tuesday)  for  Schenectady,  on  the 
rail,  in  one  of  nine  cars  drawn  by  a  steam  engine,  running 
part  of  the  way  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour. 

The  boat  in  which  I  am  now  sitting  has  this  moment 
started  for  Utica,  a  distance  of  eighty  miles.  From  there  I 
will  go  to  Erie,  Pa.;  then  to  Detroit;  and  next  to  Indianapolis. 
I  shall  probably  be  home  in  five  weeks  from  this  time  if 
providence  permits;  sooner  than  I  expected. 

Remember  me  kindly  to  all  at  home,  and  other  friends 
you  may  see.     May  a  kind  providence  protect  us  both,  and 
permit  us  to  meet  again  and  spend  many  happy  days  together. 
Your  affectionate  husband, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Woodcock  Township,  Crawford  Co.,  Pa., 

June  18,  1833. 
Dear  E. — I  write  these  lines  in  the  house  of  J E 


where  I  have  been  permitted,  through  the  goodness  of  provi- 
dence, to  arrive  safely  after  a  disagreeable,  if  not  dangerous, 
passage  over  Lake  Erie.  I  have  several  letters  to  write,  but 
commence,  as  is  my  duty  and  my  pleasure,  with  you. 

After  I  wrote  to  you  from  Schenectady,  I  went  on  in  the 
canal  packet  to  Utica  (eighty  miles)  and  stayed  there  two 
days.  Utica  is  a  beautiful  town  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants, 
containing  many  buildings  truly  elegant,  and  having  a  trade 
and  business  of  great  extent.  While  at  Utica  I  visited  a 
manual  labor  school  called  the  Oneida  Institute,  where  they 
have  more  than  one  hundred  students,  and  five  hundred  or 
more  applicants  that  they  cannot  admit.  From  Utica  I  went 
on  in  the  canal  packet  for  Rochester  (one  hundred  and  sixty 
miles)  where  I  arrived  on  Sunday  morning  before  breakfast, 
June  8th.  This  is  a  large  thriving  town  on  Genesee  river, 
where  the  water  of  that  river,  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  wide, 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 37 

falls  at  one  pitch  ninety-six  feet,  and  a  mile  and  a  half  lower 
down,  eighty  feet  more.  These  falls  present  a  sublime  spec- 
tacle. At  the  upper  one,  Sam  Patch  lost  his  life  by  leaping 
down  from  a  scaffold  thirty  feet  above  the  brow  of  the  preci- 
pice into  the  abyss  below.  He  had  made  many  such  experi- 
ments before,  but  here  he  took  his  last  leap.  I  passed  Sun- 
day in  this  place,  partly  in  attending  public  worship,  partly  in 
gazing  at  the  stupendous  cataracts,  and  partly  in  walking 
down  to  Lake  Ontario  and  back,  distant  seven  or  eight  miles. 
Monday  morning  the  9th,  left  Rochester  in  boat,  as  be- 
fore, for  Tonnewanta,  distant  eighty  miles,  on  the  grand  canal, 
and  eleven  miles  from  the  Falls  of  Niagara.  Arrived  at  Ton- 
newanta at  three  o'clock  on  Tuesday  morning,  whence  I  sent 
on  my  baggage  to  Buffalo,  and  immediately  set  out  alone  on 
foot  with  part  of  the  old  moon  to  light  me  along  the  mighty 
river  Niagara,  to  visit  the  great  cataract,  the  wonder  of  the 
world.  I  saw  it.  I  gazed  upon  it  with  awe.  I  listened  to  its 
tremendous  roar,  and  thought  of  the  voice  of  Him  that  is  like 
the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  of  the  great  white  throne  of 
Him  from  whose  face  the  heavens  and  the  earth  fled  away. 
I  crossed  the  river  just  below  the  falls  to  the  British  side,  and 
went  to  view  the  battle-grounds  at  Lundy's  lane,  Chippewa, 
and  Fort  Erie,  where  thousands  of  our  countrymen  and  of  our 
country's  enemies  fell  in  the  fierce  strife  of  battle.  I  stayed 
all  night  on  the  battle-ground  of  Chippewa;  walked  up  the 
next  day  to  the  mouth  of  Lake  Erie  and  crossed  over  to  Buf- 
falo on  Wednesday  evening.  This  is  a  town  of  nine  or  ten 
thousand  inhabitants,  at  the  western  end  of  the  grand  canal, 
and  the  eastern  end  of  Lake  Erie;  a  place  of  prodigious  busi- 
ness. I  stayed  here  in  consequence  of  unsettled  weather  till 
Friday  morning  last,  when  I  took  passage  in  the  steamboat 
Ohio,  for  Erie,  Pa.  A  very  strong  wind  was  blowing  directly 
ahead,  and  the  boat  had  to  put  in  on  the  Canada  side,  behind 
a  point  of  land  called  Point  Ebony,  where  she  cast  anchor  till 
dark;  then  in  the  teeth  of  the  wind,  but  little  abated,  she  set 
out  and  worked  her  way  against  the  storm  during  the  whole 
night.  There  were  probably  more  than  three  hundred  pas- 
sengers on  board,  and  among  them  many  women  and  child- 
ren, and  a  great  number  were  sea-sick.     The  motion  of  the 


I38  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

boat  was  like  that  of  a  galloping  horse,  interrupted  by  many 
a  pitch  and  stumble.  After  being  on  the  lake  twenty-seven 
hours,  we  arrived  safe  at  Erie,  distant  from  Buffalo  about  one 
hundred  miles.  I  met  with  no  other  accident  than  the  loss  of 
my  hat,  when  I  was  attempting  to  draw  up  a  bucket  of  water 
for  one  of  the  women  passengers. 

I  arrived  at  Erie  near  one  o'clock  p.  m.,  then  thirty-two 

miles  distant  from  J E 's.     I  walked  that  afternoon 

on  my  way  fifteen  miles;  then  came  the  rest  of  the  distance 
next  morning  in  the  stage.  They  were  glad  to  see  me,  and 
gave  me  a  hearty  welcome,  and  say  I  must  not  leave  them  for 
several  days.  They  are  in  good  health;  have  a  productive 
piece  of  land  of  fifty  acres.  The  country  has  a  very  uneven 
surface;    pretty  good  water;    and  is  as  healthy,  probably,  as 

about  N ,  if  not  more  so.     I  cannot  yet  say  when  you  may 

expect  me  home.  I  am  very  anxious  to  see  Indiana  and 
Ohio,  though  I  shall  probably  not  pass  through  Michigan. 

Remember  me  kindly  to  relatives  and  friends. 
Your  affectionate  husband, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Doylestown,  May  26,  1821. 

Mr.  Chairman — The  subject  I  have  chosen  as  the  founda- 
tion of  my  remarks  on  the  present  occasion,  is  the  use  and 
importance  of  brevity.  Brevity  is  a  rule  which  I  dislike  to 
see  transgressed  when  I  am  a  hearer,  and  one  which  I  hope 
ever  to  pay  proper  attention  to  when  a  speaker.  Advocating 
the  cause  I  do,  you  will  certainly  expect  me  to  be  concise; 
and  conciseness  comports  both  with  my  time  and  capacity. 
Perspicuity  ought  to  be  the  chief  consideration  of  every  man 
who  is  an  instructor  of  youth,  a  public  speaker,  or  an  author. 
And,  I  think  that,  second  in  importance  to  perspicuity,  we 
may  justly  place  brevity. 

I  will  first  notice  the  instruction  of  youth.  It  is  not  by 
a  multitude  of  tedious  rules  aud  theorems  that  the  minds  of 
youth  are  filled  with  permanent  and  useful  knowledge,  but  by 
familiar  and  brief  illustrations  and  examples.     Where  is  the 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I  39 

boy,  be  his  genius  what  it  may,  that  would  understand  the 
most  labored  description  of  the  nature  of  that  simple  and  use- 
ful proportion  called  the  "  rule  of  three" ;  and  yet,  where  is  the 
booby,  I  might  ask,  that  will  not  directly  see  its  use  and  ap- 
plication when  practically  exemplified  in  a  concise  and  famil- 
iar manner?  Would  you,  sir,  put  into  the  hands  of  youth  a 
folio  volume  of  Grammar  with  which  to  commence  the  study? 
I  presume,  though  the  style  were  masterly  and  the  plan  en- 
tirely unexceptional,  you  would  prefer  a  comprehensive  and 
well-arranged  manual;  and  the  more  concise  the  better,  if 
general  principles  were  sufficiently  attended  to.  I  have  ever 
remarked,  in  the  narrow  sphere  of  my  observation,  that  in  in- 
structing youth  or  explaining  to  them  the  nature  of  any  sub- 
ject susceptible  of  demonstration,  no  more  steps  should  be 
taken  in  arriving  at  the  end  in  view  than  are  necessary  in 
order  to  be  clear  and  lucid.  The  demonstration  should  be 
come  at  in  such  a  manner  that  the  mind  may  take  in  the 
whole  at  once,  and  distinctly  see  every  link  in  the  connecting 
chain  between  the  premises  and  inference.  Such  are  the  ad- 
mired theorems  of  geometry,  unequalled  for  their  simplicity, 
and  the  incontrovertible  certainty  and  truth  with  which  the 
conclusion  is  deduced  from  the  proposition.  Truth  thus  ac- 
quired is  received  with  rapture;  it  bursts  upon  us  with  resist- 
less energy:  there  is  no  doubt,  not  the  slightest  shadow  of 
uncertainly,  conviction  takes  entire  possession  of  the  soul, 
and  we  are  equally  pleased  with  our  own  and  our  preceptor's 
ingenuity.  But  when  the  reasoning  is  clogged  with  a  ponder- 
ous load  of  words,  the  patience  and  memory  are  both  ex- 
hausted; the  object  we  set  out  for  lost  sight  of  and  forgotten; 
and  if  we  are  so  fortunate  at  last  as  to  distinguish  the  truth  at 
all,  we  embrace  it  coldly,  and  in  a  manner  ill-suited  to  its 
value  and  importance. 

In  the  second  place,  I  notice  that  brevity  is  necessary  for 
a  public  speaker.  The  great  object  of  every  voluntary  speaker 
is  to  be  heard  with  attention ;  and  the  right  way  to  be  heard 
with  attention  is  not  to  begin  till  we  have  something  to  say, 
and,  continually  keeping  the  end  in  view,  to  stop  as  soon  as 
we  have  done.  We  can  even  bear  with  the  fool  in  his  folly 
if  he  makes  his  story  short;  yet, 


I40  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

"  We  from  the  wordy  torrent  fly ; 
Who  listens  to  the  chattering  pye  "  ? 

The  very  wisest,  greatest,  and  most  eloquent  of  mankind  could 
not  hold  our  attention  enchained  long  were  he  to  exert  every 
power  and  energy  of  his  genius  and  invention.  Solomon, 
who  probably  never  studied  the  science  of  modern  ethics  (or 
he  would  not  have  been  so  impolite),  says,  that  the  "fool  is 
known  by  a  multitude  of  words";  and  a  greater  than  Solo- 
mon has  denounced  the  heaviest  punishments  upon  those 
religious  teachers  who,  for  the  sake  of  external  show,  lengthen 
out  their  prayers  and  speeches  beyond  proper  bounds.  The 
fact  is,  in  attending  to  specimens  of  oratory,  we  shall  find  that 
our  admiration  is  not  proportioned  to  the  length  of  the  speech, 
but  is  regulated  by  the  sublime  and  elevated  sentiments,  the 
clear  and  conclusive  arguments,  the  tender  and  unaffected 
pathos  of  the  speaker.  And  the  properties  in  their  own  gen- 
uine character  do  occupy  but  a  small  part  of  every  long  speech. 
And  most  three-hour  speeches,  I  apprehend,  might,  with  ad- 
vantage to  themselves  and  satisfaction  to  the  audience,  be  re- 
duced to  one-third  of  their  length.  It  is  probably  best  to 
ground  our  arguments  on  a  kw  clear  and  fair  propositions,  to 
state  our  reasons  with  force  and  candor,  and  having  placed 
the  best  of  them  in  their  most  favorable  light,  to  proceed  to 
the  inference,  and  thus  leave  the  question  to  its  fate.  Where 
such  means  as  these  will  not  gain  a  cause  before  an  impartial 
judge,  it  is  not  worth  defending;  where  shuffling  or  evasion 
must  be  resorted  to,  we  may  with  Junius  say  that  the  effect 
will  be  "to  contract  the  understanding  and  to  corrupt  the 
head."  Were  these  things  attended  to,  we  should  not  see 
gentlemen  of  the  bar  wearying  the  patience  and  distracting 
the  minds  of  a  jury  with  a  mass  of  stuff,  the  only  tendency  of 
which  was  to  convince  them  of  the  badness  of  the  cause  and 
the  insincerity  of  the  speaker. 

Lastly,  with  regard  to  authors.  How  many  of  those 
massive  volumes  that  inundate  the  world  are  almost  entirely 
neglected,  and  when  read,  how  little  remembered.  Every 
subject  must  be  represented  in  a  striking  and  pleasing  light 
in  order  to  arrest  the  attention  and  impress  the  mind;  and 
this  cannot  be  done  in  ponderous  folios;    the  ingenious  and 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I4I 

inquiring  mind  must  pass  with  a  light  and  easy  step  from 
truth  to  truth  and  not  crawl  lazily  and  heavily  along  with  an 
almost  imperceptible  motion.  "Do  unto  others  as  you  wish 
them  to  do  unto  you,"  is  the  concise  rule  that  explains  all  the 
duties  and  obligations  in  the  social  intercourse  between  man 
and  man;  and  all  the  refinements  of  moral  philosophy  have 
never  made  it  clearer  or  more  intelligible  than  it  is  in  its  sim- 
ple state.  These  fine-spun  systems,  indeed,  have  amused  the 
learned,  but  have  never  informed  or  interested  the  ignorant. 

Finally,  though  subjects  may  be  diffusely  treated  of  for 
the  perusal  of  the  learned,  and  those  who  have  leisure,  yet  no 
work  need  be  carried  beyond  the  extent  that  is  necessary  to 
make  it  plain  and  easily  understood. 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Boston,  Eighth-monlh  3,  1827. 
Dear  Friend — Thy  very  acceptable  letter  of  the  30th  we 
received  upon  our  arrival  here  yesterday,  and  as  thou  mayest 
feel  some  curiosity  to  know  a  little  of  our  movements  in  this 
"land  of  steady  habits,"  before  we  reach  home,  I  will  scribble 
a  few  lines  for  thy  amusement.  I  think  my  brother  wrote 
thee  from  Providence,  and  probably  gave  thee  a  little  account 
of  our  movements  up  to  that  time. 

During  the  second  day  of  our  stay  at  Providence  we  vis- 
ited Brown  University,  and  were  much  pleased  with  the  con- 
versation, manners,  etc.,  of  Wayland,  their  president.  We  had 
a  letter  from  J.  Griscom  to  one  of  the  professors,  who  hap- 
pened to  be  from  home  on  a  visit,  and  we  in  consequence  in- 
troduced ourselves  to  the  president.  He  is  a  young  man,  a 
minister  in  your  society,  and  is  said  to  have  made  a  great 
revolution  in  the  institution  for  the  better  in  the  course  of  six 
or  eight  months.  I  mentioned  Rush's  work  to  him.  He 
seemed  much  pleased  to  hear  of  it;  said  he  should  get  it  and 
read  it  with  care,  and  I  think  will  be  able  to  estimate  it 
properly. 

We  left  Providence  yesterday  morning  about  5.30,  took 
breakfast  at  Walpole,  distant  twenty-one  miles,  and  arrived 
here  about  one  p.  m.     John  and  I  walked  out  a  little  during 


142  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

the  afternoon,  and  took  tea  and  spent  a  couple  of  hours  very 
pleasantly  with  N.  Bowditch.  This  morning  we  visited  the 
State  House,  and  had  a  fine  bird's  eye  view  of  the  city  from 
its  top.  We  then  went  to  Faneuil  Hall,  the  cradle  of  liberty, 
and  afterwards  to  the  Atheneum,  etc.  This  afternoon  we 
went  over  to  Charlestown  and  Breed's  Hill.  The  situation  of 
the  old  redoubt  is  very  distinct  yet,  and,  as  thou  knowest,  they 
have  commenced  a  granite  monument  on  the  site  where  most 
of  the  British  fell.  It  is  to  be  two  hundred  feet  in  height. 
Since  then  we  have  been  to  Cambridge  and  several  adjacent 
places.  To-morrow  morning  we  shall  set  out  for  Nahant, 
Lynn  and  Salem,  which  will  occupy  us  two  days.  We  shall 
then  return  here,  and  set  out  by  stage  for  Northampton. 

We  should  like  to  receive  another  letter  from  thee  at 
New  Haven,  Connecticut,  where  we  shall  probably  be  on  Fifth- 
day  next.  For  further  particulars  of  our  movements,  I  refer 
thee  to  S.  R.  Gummere  when  he  arrives  in  Burlington.  I 
think  one  of  us  will  try  to  write  again  from  Northampton. 
Thine  respectfully, 

Samuel  R.  Gummere. 
To  Samuel  Aaron. 


To  all  people  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come.      The  Baptist 

Church  at  New   Britain,  in    Bucks  County,  Pa.,  sendeth 

greeting  : 

The  bearer  hereof,  our  beloved  brother  Samuel  Aaron, 
being  a  man  of  good  moral  character,  real  piety  and  sound 
knowledge  of  divine  things,  and  having  been  called  to  the 
exercise  of  his  ministerial  gifts,  whereof  we  have  now  had 
considerable  trial,  both  in  private  and  public,  we  have  judged 
him  worthy,  and  do  therefore  hereby  license  and  authorize  him, 
to  preach  the  gospel  wherever  he  may  have  a  call,  not  doubt- 
ing but  that  in  due  time  circumstances  will  lead  to  a  more  full 
investiture  of  him  in  the  ministerial  office  by  ordination.  In 
the  meantime,  we  recommend  him  to  favor  and  respect,  pray- 
ing the  Lord  may  be  with  and  abundantly  bless  him. 

Done  at  our  meeting  for  business  the  31st  of  May,  1828. 
And  signed  by  order  of  the  church. 

Isaiah  James,   Church  Clerk. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 43 


Brown  University,  Sept.  5,  1838. 
Sir — I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Board  of  Fellows  of  Brown  University,  the  honorary  de- 
gree of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred  upon  you  by  that  au- 
thority, and  that  the  act  was  duly  announced  on  the  day  of 
the  annual  commencement,  September  5,  1838. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant,  F.   Wayland. 

Rev.  Samuel  Aaron,  Burlington,  N.  J. 


[Extract  from  a  letter  written  by  John  C.  Ten  Eyck,  Esq.,  who  after- 
wards became  U.  S.  Senator  from  N.  J.] 

Mount  Holly,  Feb.  26,  1841. 
Dear  Sir — I  regret  exceedingly  to  learn  your  determina- 
tion to  leave  Burlington  for  a  residence  in  Pennsylvania. 
Thus  has  it  always  been  in  New  Jersey,  as  soon  as  we  begin 
to  take  pride  in  a  citizen,  either  the  want  of  proper  encourage- 
ment, or  a  more  attractive  allurement,  is  sure  to  deprive  us  of 
the  credit  which  his  further  residence  and  usefulness  would 
reflect  upon  us,  and  in  this  way  are  our  proudest  possessions 
made  the  property  of  others.  I  would,  as  a  man  and  a  Jersey- 
man,  it  were  not  so.          *         *         *         * 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

John  C.  Ten  Eyck. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


Burlington,  Fifth-month  13,  1841. 

Dear  Friend — At  a  meeting  of  the  Temperance  Union 
Benef.  Society,  held  this  evening,  the  following  preamble  and 
resolution  were  unanimously  adopted,  every  member  promptly 
rising  in  token  of  assent.     I  was  appointed  to  write  to  thee. 

Whereas,  Our  fellow-member  and  late  fellow-citizen, 
Samuel  Aaron,  was  intimately  connected  with  the  organization 


144  REV-   SAMUEL    AARON. 

of  this  society,  and  has  rendered  important  aid  by  his  counsels 
and  services  in  its  subsequent  operations;  and 

Whereas,  He  has  been,  during  his  whole  residence  in 
Burlington,  eminent  for  his  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the  tru- 
est welfare  of  his  fellow-men ; 

Resolved,  That  we  entertain  the  sincerest  affection  for  him 
personally,  and  respect  for  the  enlarged  philanthropy  and  the 
high  moral  stand  which  he  has  maintained  through  evil  re- 
port and  good  report;  and  that  while  we  regret  the  loss  of  his 
valuable  services  among  us,  we  desire  that  the  divine  blessing 
may  rest  upon  him  and  upon  his  labors  of  love  in  the  com- 
munity among  whom  he  now  resides. 

James  L.  Hart  and  myself  were  continued  a  committee 
to  make  arrangements  for  a  meeting  to  be  addressed  by  thee 
at  any  time  when  thou  can  so  favor  us. 

Thy  affectionate  friend, 

Wm.  J.  Allinson. 


Kennett  Square  P.  O.  Chester  Co.,  Pa., 
October  1 1,  1841. 
Dear  Sir — I  have  been  requested,  as  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary of  the  Chester  County  Temperance  Society,  to  inform 
you  of  our  next  meeting,  and  in  behalf  of  the  society  to  invite 
you  to  be  present  and  favor  us  with  an  address.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  me  to  describe  the  satisfaction  and  delight 
which  your  speech,  delivered  in  West  Chester  on  the  3d  of 
July  last,  gave  to  the  members  of  our  society,  as  well  as  many 
others  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  present  on  that  occa- 
sion. You  remember  it  was  the  last  day  of  the  week  in  harvest 
time,  a  day  when  all  our  farmers  were  so  extremely  busy  that 
very  many  of  them  were  compelled  to  remain  at  home  who 
would  gladly  have  been  at  the  meeting.  This  accounts  for 
the  fact  that  a  large  portion  of  the  audience  were  females  from 
different  parts  of  the  county,  whose  zeal  induced  them  to  break 
away  from  engagements  which  would  have  kept  them  at  home 
had  the  meeting  been  of  any  other  kind.  On  their  return  to 
their  families  they  gave  (so  far  as  I  have  had  an  opportunity 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 45 

of  learning)  the  most  glowing  accounts  of  "Samuel  Aaron's 
speech,"  which  has  created  a  most  anxious  desire  in  the  minds 
of  hundreds,  perhaps  I  might  say  thousands,  to  hear  you  ad- 
vocate the  noble  cause,  who  were  deprived  of  the  opportunity 
of  listening  to  you  then.  I,  in  common  with  others,  do  most 
sincerely  hope  that  you  will  be  able  to  favor  us  with  your  pres- 
ence and  counsel  at  our  next  meeting.  We  want  another  just 
such  a  speech  as  we  had  at  West  Chester,  which  in  my  opin- 
ion was  as  luminous  as  light  itself  and  strong  as  Pennsylvania 
iron.  Some  of  the  young  men  of  the  borough  thought  it 
rather  harsh;  but  so  long  as  the  truth  is  deemed  harsh,  I  pray 
God  that  your  speeches  may  ever  abound  with  harshness. 

We  would  not  call  on  one  who  lives  so  far  to  leave  his 
home  and  come  to  our  aid,  did  we  not  believe  that  an  effort 
of  yours  would  do  more  good  at  this  time,  in  this  county,  than 
that  of  any  man  to  whom  we  could  apply.  We  need  some  one 
who  has  power  to  electrify  the  people ;  one  whose  spirit-stirring 
voice  will  strike  upon  the  public  ear  like  the  thunders  of  Otis, 
of  Henry,  and  of  Mirabeau,  in  former  glorious  though  infinitely 
less  beneficent  revolutions;  one  whose  reasoning  will  break 
upon  the  public  mind  like  the  sudden  light  of  morning  in  a  trop- 
ical clime ;  one  that  is  able  to  show  the  people,  in  an  impressive 
and  effectual  manner,  the  enormous  burden  of  taxation  which 
they  are  patiently  because  ignorantly  laboring  under  in  con- 
sequence of  the  rum  trade;  one  that  can  lay  a  mighty  grasp 
upon  the  moral  sensibilities  of  his  hearers,  and  shake  them 
until  they  are  thoroughly  aroused.  Allow  me,  then,  the  plea- 
sure of  announcing  in  our  county  papers  your  name  as  one  of 
the  speakers,  and  our  next  meeting  will,  I  trust,  be  a  mighty 
gathering  of  the  people. 

The  society  will  meet  on  the  first  Saturday  of  November 
next,  at  ten  o'clock  a.  m.,  at  Unionville,  which  is  on  the  State 
road,  about  ten  miles  from  West  Chester.  The  friends  of  tem- 
perance, and  also  the  friends  of  impartial  liberty,  who  are  pretty 
numerous  in  this  section,  would  be  highly  gratified  if  you 
could  make  it  convenient  to  yourself  to  remain  in  our  neigh- 
borhood a  few  days  at  least.  At  any  rate  we  cannot  but  in- 
dulge the  hope  that  you  will  come  to  Kennett,  which  is  but 
four  miles  from  Unionville,  and  spend  the  night  with  us  after 


I46  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

the  society  adjourns;  and,  if  it  would  not  be  asking  too  much, 
favor  us  with  a  lecture  on  either  temperance  or  equal  rights, 
as  you  may  choose,  the  next  afternoon  at  Kennett  Square.  I 
will  say  no  more  until  I  learn  from  your  own  pen  whether  you 
can  come  or  not.  In  the  meantime  I  shall  continue  to  hope 
until  I  know  the  certainty. 

Yours  truly,  Sumner  Stebbins. 

To  Samuel  Aaron. 


[Extract  from  a  Letter  from  John  W.  Hazleton,  who  afterwards  be- 
came a  Member  of  Congress.] 

Mullica  Hill, ,  1841. 

My  Dear  Friend —  *  *  *  I  believe  it  is  usually 
gratifying  for  persons  to  hear  that  they  have  done  some  good 
in  the  world;  and  I  think  it  can  be  said  with  justice  that  your 
effort  at  Woodbury,  N.  J.,  had  a  great  effect  upon  the  audi- 
ence. Could  all  the  inhabitants  of  New  Jersey  heard  your 
lecture  at  that  time,  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  abominable 
practice  of  horse-racing  would  be  repealed  by  law;  as  it  is,  I 
fear  the  result.  *  *  *  It  is  with  pleasure  I  inform  you 
that  those  persons  who  objected  to  your  lecturing  in  the 
church  at  this  place,  show  a  disposition  to  retract  their  reso- 
lutions. One  of  the  heads  of  the  church  wished  me  to  invite 
you  to  come  again,  and  the  church,  if  it  is  in  his  power,  shall 
be  at  your  service.  He  was  induced  to  do  this  by  hearing  a 
part  of  your  discourse  at  Woodbury  on  the  horse-racing  sub- 
ject. There  is  also  a  person  here  who  wishes  to  have  a  pri- 
vate discourse  with  you  upon  religious  matters,  if  you  should 
ever  visit  us  again.  He  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  good  man,  al- 
though he  differs  from  most  religious  societies;  and  I  think 
you  will,  after  conversing  with  him,  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  entertains  many  just  notions.  If  he  does  not,  then 
you  will  have  the  pleasure  of  correcting  him,  for  he  is  open  to 
conviction. 

But  I  will  not  weary  your  patience  longer,  but  will  con- 
clude by  inviting  you  to  visit  me  as  soon  as  practicable. 

I  am,  with  respect,  your  sincere  friend, 

J.  W.  H. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I  47 

Philadelphia,  First-month  7th,  1843. 

My  Dear  Fnend — When  I  hear  of  thy  labors  in  the  cause 
of  suffering  humanity,  the  relation  which  formerly  subsisted 
between  us  of  teacher  and  pupil  often  calls  thee  vividly  before 
my  mind;  and  though  an  opportunity  has  seldom  offered  to 
extend  in  person  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  I  can  assure 
thee  my  aspirations  have  often  ascended  to  our  common  Fa- 
ther that  he  would  preserve  and  keep  thee,  and  that  thy  labors 
in  his  vineyard  may  be  blessed.  In  looking  at  the  present 
state  of  the  world,  and  observing  the  suffering  and  degrada- 
tion into  which  thousands  of  our  race  are  plunged,  the  Chris- 
tian mind  cannot  fail  to  be  affected  with  sorrow.  While  sla- 
very and  intemperance  are  prostrating  the  physical  and  spirit 
ual  energies  of  our  fellow-beings,  it  is  cause  of  gratitude  to  find 
that  a  faithful  band  is  raised  up  out  of  all  the  denominations 
of  Christians  to  bear  a  testimony  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus. 

While  many  of  our  brethren  are  called  upon  to  labor  for 
the  suffering  bondmen,  my  attention  has  often  been  called,  and 
particularly  so  of  late,  to  the  nominally  free  among  us, — more 
especially  those  in  large  cities.  At  the  last  meeting  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Abolition  Society  this  subject  claimed  some  at- 
tention. The  school  which  was  formerly  taught  under  their 
direction,  has  been  laid  down  in  consequence  of  the  free  school 
system,  to  which  all  colors  and  classes  are  admitted;  and  this 
has  placed  at  their  disposal  some  funds  which  some  of  the 
members  think  cannot  be  more  profitably  employed  than  in 
an  attempt  at  the  improvement  and  elevation  of  a  portion  of 
the  colored  population  in  our  city,  and  it  has  been  thought  a 
home  missionary  might  spend  a  portion  of  time  among  them 
greatly  to  their  advantage.  *  *  *  Let  us  know  thy  views 
respecting  this  matter.  If  thy  numerous  engagements  will 
permit  thee  to  drop  a  line  at  any  time,  be  assured  it  will  be 
very  grateful  to  thy  attached  friend  and  old  pupil, 

DlLLWYN  PARRISH. 

To  Samuel  Aaron. 


I48  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Norristown,  June  21,  1843. 

Rev.  Samuel  Aaron  :  Dear  Sir — I  would  be  doing  injus- 
tice to  my  feelings  did  I  not  apologize  for  not  calling  on  you 
last  evening,  to  express  my  concern  at  the  outrage  committed 
on  your  person.  My  time  being  fully  occupied  during  the  day 
and  evening  prevented  me  from  coming.  I  have  never  in  my 
life  felt  as  I  did  when  I  heard  of  the  outrage.  I  thought  of 
you  as  a  devoted  Christian,  a  man  and  a  patriot,  devoted  to 
the  service  of  thy  God,  thy  country  and  mankind,  and  thanked 
God  in  my  heart  that  we  had  just  such  a  man  with  us.  I  am 
not  ashamed  to  acknowledge  that  my  eyes  more  than  once 
filled  with  tears  of  generous  indignation,  while  I  trembled 
with  emotion  at  the  treatment  you  had  received  in  a  Christian 
community.  Although  comparatively  a  stranger  to  me,  I 
have  listened  to  your  voice  from  the  pulpit,  while  my  heart 
was  gladdened  with  the  joyful  tidings  you  were  proclaiming. 
I  felt  that  you  were  my  brother,  and  I  have  loved  you  as  such, 
and  shall  always  remain 

Your  sincere  friend,  Thos.  P.  Knox. 

P.  S. — In  the  country,  as  far  as  I  have  heard,  but  one  feel- 
ing is  expressed — that  of  just  indignation  at  the  treatment  you 
have  received;  and  I  have  seen  more  than  one  strong  man 
tremble  with  emotion  while  expressing  himself.         T.  P.  K. 


Burlington,  Sixth -month  30,  1843. 
My  Dear  Friend — Samuel  Aaron  I  know  will  not  be  un- 
willing to  receive,  among  the  numerous  evidences  of  friend- 
ship from  other  quarters,  the  expression  of  deep  sympathy  on 
my  part  (and  I  may  speak  in  behalf  of  all  our  family)  with  thee 
in  thy  late  trials  and  present  sufferings;  and,  I  trust,  of  sin- 
cere pity  for  those  misguided  men  who  have  so  freely  lent 
themselves  to  do  the  work  of  Satan.  Probably  the  greater  feel- 
ing should  be  expressed  for  them.  For  when  a  man  whose 
spirit  has  been  long  guided  by  the  good  Director  of  Heaven 
suffers  at  the  hands  of  the  wicked,  and  suffers  patiently,  and 
with  a  fear  of  offending  his   Master  only,  there  is  cause  to  re- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 49 

joice  that  amid  the  corruptions  of  the  world  there  are  good  ex- 
amples of  fidelity  and  attachment  to  the  laws  of  truth  ;  but  when 
those  influenced  by  ungoverned  passions,  and  with  their  hearts 
hardened  against  the  secret  impulses  of  goodness  and  wisdom, 
betray  the  spirit  of  violence  and  rage,  there  is  need  to  have 
compassion  for  their  delusion.  Receive,  then,  this  assurance, 
that  adversity  and  affliction  have  not  the  power  to  weaken  the 
attachment  and  esteem  that  we  have  always  cherished  and  will 
continue  to  cultivate  for  thee  and  thy  services  for  good  among 
men.  Joseph  Parrish. 


West  Chester,  Pa.,  July  11,  1843. 

Brother  Aaron — We  have  appointed  a  temperance  harvest 
home  to  be  held  in  our  borough  July  29th  on  the  part  of  sev- 
eral societies.  The  meeting  will  be  large.  I  have  been  re- 
quested to  invite  you  to  attend,  and  give  you  a  special  invita- 
tion to  be  the  orator  of  the  day.  And  I  will  add  that  it  is  a 
general  and  ardent  desire  that  you  may  attend.  Your  friends 
here  are  numerous,  and  I  hope  that  you  may  brush  aside  every 
obstacle  to  comply  with  their  wishes.  It  was  hoped  that  your 
face  would  be  seen  in  our  midst  on  the  4th.  Let  me  say,  as 
one  of  your  friends,  that  it  will  be  gratifying  to  me  if  amid 
your  numerous  calls  you  will  forego  any  objection  or  engage- 
ment which  may  be  dispensed  with,  and  meet  us  on  that  day. 
It  will  be  a  pleasure  to  us  to  hear  your  voice  again  in  our 
town,  now  that  we  are  grown  up  to  the  stature  of  a  man  in  the 
cause.     Will  you  please  send  me  an  early  reply? 

Permit  me  to  express  to  you  my  admiration  of  your  bear- 
ing in  the  late  conflict  and  my  utter  abhorrence  of  the  conduct 
of  the  assailants  in  their  cowardly  outrage.  If  it  be  agreeable 
to  the  A.  General,  I  should  be  pleased  to  have  the  opportu- 
nity of  assisting  him  in  the  prosecution  of  the  offenders,  with 
your  assent.  I  suppose  they  may  plead  guilty,  and  avoid  a 
scathing.  However,  I  may  attend  your  court,  and  will,  if  it 
is  thought  a  trial  will  be  had  and  Mr.  Fox  would  permit  me  to 
"put  in  an  oar." 

Yours  truly,  U.  V.  Pennypacker. 


150  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 


Red  Lion,  New  Castle  Co.,  Del,  August  1,  1843. 

My  Dear  Friend — I  am  requested  by  a  committee  of  in- 
vitation to  solicit  the  favor  of  your  presence  as  a  speaker  at  a 
temperance  harvest  home  to  be  held  at  the  "Cool  Springs," 
near  St.  George's,  Del.,  on  Tuesday,  22d  of  August.  It  is  ex- 
pected that  the  meeting  will  be  numerously  attended;  perhaps 
not  less  than  five  thousand  persons  will  be  present.  I  told  the 
committee  that  I  had  your  promise  that  you  would  come  down, 
if  it  were  possible,  at  any  time  we  had  a  meeting;  so  they  (the 
committee)  hope  strongly  for  a  fulfillment  of  that  promise.  •  Do 
come,  and  give  your  friends  in  Delaware  a  sample  of  your  log- 
ical reasoning  and  spirit-moving  eloquence. 

The  good  people  of  Delaware,  always  remarkable  for  sym- 
pathy and  generosity  of  feeling,  sympathize  strongly  with  you 
on  account  of  your  late  unfortunate  encounter  with  those  friends 
of  tumult  and  disorder.  Allow  me  to  say  that  the  people  of 
this  vicinity  have  a  very  great  desire  to  hear  you  speak,  and 
after  this  invitation  expectation  will  be  on  tip-toe.  Do  not  dis- 
appoint them.  I  will  meet  you  with  a  carriage  at  any  time 
that  suits  you,  at  Wilmington  or  Delaware  City. 

Please  favor  me  with  an  immediate  answer,  and  accept 
the  kindest  regards  of  your  friend  and  old  student, 

John  J.  Henry. 
To  Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


Kennett  Square,  August  3,  1846. 
Samuel  Aaron  :  Respected  Friend — I  am  very  desirous  of 
seeing  you  here  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Anti-Slav- 
ery Society,  which  will  begin  day  after  to-morrow.  Do  drop 
everything  and  come,  if  you  can.  Thomas  Earle  will  be  here 
to  defend  the  invasion  of  Mexico,  and  I  fear  an  impression  will 
be  made  that  the  non-voters  are  the  only  opponents  among 
the  Abolitionists  of  this  infamous  war.  I  have  been  looking 
for  some  time  to  see  something  from  you  on  the  subject.  It 
cannot  be  possible  that  you  are  either  in  favor  of  it  or  indiffer- 
ent about  it.     The  meeting  will  be  likely  to  hold  three  or  four 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I  5  I 

days,  and  if  you  cannot  get  here  before  the  evening  of  the  6th 
that  will  do.  Your  presence  would  be  welcomed  more  heart- 
ily than  that  of  any  other  man  in  Pennsylvania  by  a  majority 
of  those  who  will  be  present.  I  speak  what  I  know,  not  in  a 
spirit  of  flattery  but  of  frank  sincerity.  Do  come  if  you  can, 
and  oblige  your  many  friends  here,  and  especially  yours,  etc., 

In  haste,  Sumner  Stebbins. 


Philadelphia,  October  2,  1847. 
My  Very  Dear  Sir — As  your  quondam  pupil  I  have  long 
contemplated  a  visit  to  you  at  Norristown,  but  the  multiplied 
engagements  of  a  very  exacting  profession  have  hitherto  denied 
me  that  enjoyment.  My  oldest  son,  who  is  on  a  short  visit  to 
a  cousin  at  your  place,  and  who  desires  to  look  a  little  about 
him  there,  must  for  the  present  serve  as  my  "  locum  tenens." 
Me  will  call  upon  you,  and  you  will  have  before  you,  in  the 
size  of  the  lad,  a  palpable  evidence  of  the  flight  of  time,  since 
I  took  my  first  lessons  in  Greek  and  Latin  under  your  kind 
care  at  Burlington. 

I  remain,  my  Dear  Sir,  very  truly  yours, 

J.  Pancoast. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  March  20,  1850. 
Dear  Brother — Your  presence  is  earnestly  solicited  at  the 
Christian  Anti-Slavery  Convention  to  be  held  in  this  city  on 
the  17th  of  next  month.  We  feel  assured  that  it  will  greatly 
enhance  the  interest  and  usefulness  of  the  convention  to  have 
you  with  us.  We  beg  you  will  allow  no  ordinary  difficulty 
to  prevent  your  coming.  Such  a  demand  upon  your  time  and 
attention  does  not  often  occur,  and  we  feel  the  importance  of 
the  present  critical  time  in  the  American  Zion  to  press  all  the 
true  friends  of  freedom  and  a  pure  religion  to  put  forth  a  vig- 
orous effort  to  deliver  the  churches  from  the  guilt  of  slavery. 
Should  Providence  imperatively  forbid  your  attendance,  please 


I52  REV.   SAMUEL    AARON. 

send  us  your  views  in  writing,  and  make  such  suggestions  as 
to  the  course  the  convention  should  take  as  your  deliberate 
judgment  may  advise. 

Yours  affectionately  in  Christ, 

E.  Goodman, 
B.  F.  Aydelotte, 
S.  H.  Chase, 
Wm.  Henry  Brisbane. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


Burlington,  Third-month  20,  1851. 

My  Very  Dear  Friend — There  are  very  few  men  on  earth, 
who,  in  my  affection,  stand  on  equality  with  thee;  yet  how 
little  we  see,  hear,  or  know  of  each  other.  The  accidents  of 
time  do  not  bring  us  together.  The  revolutions  of  our  planet 
do  not  jolt  thee  into  Burlington,  nor  me  to  Norristovvn.  Our 
engrossments  of  business  and  of  sect  are  not  in  common, 
though  I  trust  by  no  means  incongruous  in  their  aims,  and  so 
I  fail  to  have  the  benefit  which  I  assuredly  ought  to  derive 
from  the  warm  heart  which,  buttoned  up  beneath  thy  vest, 
pulsates  mightily  some  sixty-five  to  ninety  times  per  minute 
with  love  to  mankind,  including,  among  the  millions,  myself, 
and  many  better,  and  peradventure  some  worse.  I  have  many 
times  thought  of  going  to  Norristown  for  a  renewal  of  ancient 
deliehts,  but  in  scheming--  such  a  visit  there  have  alwavs  been 
many  things  to  be  accomplished  first,  which  had  the  impera- 
tive claim  of  duties,  and  so  the  months  roll  on. 

Thy  removal  from  New  Jersey  was  a  sad  affliction  to  me, 
and  it  was  a  loss  to  our  state.  It  was  just  as  an  appreciation 
of  thee  had  taken  such  a  hold  upon  the  leading  minds  of  Jer- 
sey as  would  have  given  thee  an  increased  influence  for  good. 
Thy  speech  on  Education,  in  Trenton,  had  taken  effect.  How 
I  needed  thee  in  Trenton  recently,  when  I  had  to  address  a 
meeting  on  the  House  of  Refuge  question.  I  was  one  of  a 
committee  for  the  purpose  from  the  New  Jersey  Prison  Reform 
Association.          ***** 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I  53 

In  the  ranks  of  philanthropy,  no  office  is  more  import- 
ant to  the  community  than  that  of  a  teacher.  No  one  is  fit 
for  it  who  is  not  a  philanthropist,  who  does  not  pursue  its 
duties  for  something  more  than  pecuniary  gain;  who  does 
not  feel  to  his  very  heart's  core  that  he  is  training  intellects 
for  eternity.  But  the  sum  total  of  good  accomplished,  for 
which  the  teacher  has  a  right  to  give  God  thanks,  ascribing  to 
Him  all  the  glory,  he  may  never  know.  "  Each  simple  effort 
has  its  far  vibration,  working  results  that  work  results  again." 
"Therefore,"  says  a  British  scribbler  of  the  present  day, 

"  Therefore,  though  few  praise  or  help  or  heed  us, 

Let  us  work  with  head,  or  heart,  or  hand, 
For  we  know  the  future  ages  need  us  ; 

We  must  help  our  time  to  take  its  stand, 
That  the  after  day  may  make  beginning, 

Where  our  present  labor  has  its  end,"  etc. 

In  looking  around  to  think  of  persons  and  matters  that 
would  specially  interest  thee,  it  seems  as  though  a  generation 
had  elapsed  since  thy  departure,  so  changed  is  ancient  Burl- 
ington. One  item  is  at  least  unaltered — the  affection  for  thee 
of  thy  friend  and  quondam  fellow-laborer, 

Wm.  J.  Allinson. 
To  Samuel  Aaron. 


NORRISTOWN,  August   15,   1852. 

Dear  Friend,  Samuel  Aaron — We  have  with  us  to-day 
our  long- imprisoned  but  now  released  brother,  Daniel  Dray- 
ton.    J gave  him  a  special  invitation  to  come  up  from  the 

city  and  attend  your  meeting  this  afternoon.  He  is  in  poor 
health,  and  an  object  of  charity.  Cannot  something  be  done 
for  him  to-day?  Pray  come  this  way  half  an  hour  before 
meeting  and  shake  his  hand.  I  am  sure  it  won't  check -the 
flow  of  your  inspiration  thus  to  greet  a  victim  from  the 
American  Bastile. 

Yours  truly, 

Oliver  Johnson. 


154  REV-  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Boston,  Nov.  16,  1853. 
Dear  Sir — The  Twentieth  Anniversary  of  the  formation 
of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  will  be  celebrated  in 
Philadelphia,  on  the  3d  and  4th  of  December  next.  As  one 
of  the  speakers  on  that  occasion,  untrammeled  in  regard  to 
thought  or  speech,  you  are  respectfully  invited  by  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  to  its  platform,  earnestly  desirous  as  you  are 
for  the  speedy  and  eternal  overthrow  of  chattel  slavery  in  our 
land,  which  is  the  specific  object  of  the  society,  by  all  rightful 
instrumentalities  and  divorced  from  all  other  questions.  In 
case  your  personal  attendance  should  be  impracticable,  a  letter 
from  you,  to  be  read  at  the  meeting,  would  serve  the  cause 
and  excite  interest. 

Yours  for  universal  emancipation, 

Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison, 
Wendell  Phillips,  "}  President  of  the  Society. 

Edmond  Quincy,        >  Secretaries. 
S.  H.  Gay7  J 


House  of  Representatives,  March  2,  1854. 

Dear  Friend — Mr. has  this  moment  handed  me 

your  letter.  I  am  so  overwhelmed  with  my  private  and  offi- 
cial duties  that  I  cannot  spare  the  time  necessary  to  make  the 
examinations  you  call  for,  nor  to  write  a  notice  for  Dr.  Bail- 
ey's paper.  *  *  I  well  remember  that  Lieutenant 
Forbes'  statements  were  contradicted.  But  I  never  heard  that 
the  British  Government  disgraced  him,  or  were  displeased 
with  him.  If  you  can  find  a  file  of  the  African  Repository 
you  can  learn  all  you  wish  to  learn  respecting  the  claim  of  the 
Colored  Society  to  the  extirpation  of  the  slave  trade,  the  ex- 
tent of  their  territory,  etc.,  etc.  We  are  greatly  excited  by 
the  Nebraska  matter.  What  will  be  the  result  of  this  nefari- 
ous and  bold  attempt  of  slavery  on  liberty  I  can  hardly  con- 
jecture. 

Truly  yours, 

Gerrit  Smith. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 55 

Norristown,  March  10,  1854. 
Mr.  Aaron,  Dear  Sir — At  a  meeting  of  the  colored  popu- 
lation of  Norristown,  held  February  2,  1854,  it  was  unani- 
mously resolved  to  present  you  with  a  trifling  "memento " 
for  the  handsome  manner  in  which  you  defend  the  rights  of 
the  colored  race  and  oppose  the  Rev.  Mr.  Peace  on  the  sub- 
ject of  African  colonization.  You  will,  therefore,  confer  a 
favor  upon  the  committee  by  attending  a  meeting  in  the  Bap- 
tist church  on  Monday  evening,  March  13th,  at  7.30  o'clock. 
Per  order  of  committee. 

John  Williams, 
George  Henry, 
I.  G.  Johnson, 
William  Taylor, 
Daniel  Ross, 
Henry  Bratcher, 
James  Wilson. 


Philadelphia,  March  26,  1854. 
My  Dear  Brother — Yours  of  the  23d  is  before  me.  I 
entirely  approve  of  your  plan,  and  will  do  all  in  my  power  to 
carry  out  your  noble  purpose  to  fight  and  whip  the  devil. 
You  are  right  when  you  say  that  infidelity  is  making  sad 
havoc  among  our  young  men.  Barker  is  a  bold  and  cunning 
advocate  of  those  doctrines  of  devils.  I  still  believe  you  are 
the  man  to  meet  and  defeat  his  vile  attacks  on  God  and  the 
Bible.  I  think  Concert  Hall,  on  Chestnut  street,  between 
Twelfth  and  Thirteenth,  is  the  most  desirable  place  in  the 
city.  Whether  it  is  best  to  commence  the  delivery  of  the 
lectures  before  the  Fall  or  not  is  a  question  of  some  moment, 
and  one  that  I  cannot  decide.  The  evenings  are  getting  short, 
and  soon  will  be  very  warm;  and,  moreover,  in  the  warm 
weather  vast  numbers  are  away  from  the  city.  If  you  deter- 
mine upon  one  lecture  per  week,  I  would  suggest  Monday  or 
Tuesday  evenings  as  the  most  suitable.     You  may  confidently 

rely  on  all  the  aid  I  can  give  you. 

John  Chambers. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


156  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Mount  Holly,  August  16,  1854. 
Dear  Sir — There  being  a  number  of  the  citizens  of  Mount 
Holly  very  desirous  of  hearing  your,  views  and  sentiments 
promulgated  upon  the  Nebraska  Bill,  as  lately  passed  by  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  the  undersigned  there- 
fore humbly  solicit  your  kind  attention  to  the  subject,  and 
ask  the  favor  of  your  indulgence  to  deliver  a  public  address 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  place  and  its  vicinity,  on  the  eve- 
ning   of  the  inst.,  leaving  the  time  to  suit  your  own 

convenience. 

Benjamin  Buckman, 
Joseph  Carr,  Jr., 
Peter  V.  Coppuck, 
Ewan  Merritt, 
Isaac  V.  Risdon, 
B.  Garwood, 
J.  M.  Browne. 
To  Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


Norristown,  June  15,  1855. 
We,  the  undersigned,  remember  that  Rev.  Samuel  Aaron, 
during  the  warm  weather  in  '42,  '43  and  '44 — that  is,  from  the 
height  of  the  "  Washingtonian  excitement"  to  the  presidential 
contest  between  Polk  and  Clay — lectured  more  frequently  in 
Norristown  than  ever  before  or  since,  especially  in  the  open 
air,  generally  standing  on  "Court-house  Hill,"  and  we  believe 
never  more  than  once,  if  even  once,  in  any  street  of  the  town. 
We  are  confident  that  he  was  never  hindered  or  intimidated 
by  acts  or  threats. 

Jerome  Walnut, 
George  Wright. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I  5  7 

Boston,  March  21,  1856. 
Dear  Sir — I  am  requested,  by  a  unanimous  vote  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society, 
to  invite  you  to  be  one  of  the  speakers  at  the  Anniversary  of 
the  Society,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  May  next,  6th.  In 
extending  this  invitation,  they  wish  you  to  exercise  as  much 
freedom  of  thought  and  speech  as  you  would  in  addressing  a 
meeting  of  your  own  in  Norristown,  and  therefore  to  frame 
your  own  resolution  and  to  select  your  own  topic  ad  libitum. 
You  will  be  expected  to  speak  as  an  independent  advocate  of 
the  slave,  not  as  endorsing  the  views  and  measures  of  the 
Society  itself.  They  hope  that  you  will  see  your  way  clear 
to  give  an  affirmative  answer.  Such,  also,  is  the  hope  of  your 
friend  and  fellow-laborer, 

Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


Newtown,  Bucks  Co.,  August  11,  1856. 

My  Very  Respected  Friend — It  seems  to  me  a  long  time 
since  I  saw  you.  I  hear  of  you  that  you  are  yet  faithful  to 
the  corrupt  and  selfishly  wicked.  Well,  there  is  a  great  deal 
to  do.  The  men  and  women  that  feel  every  fibre  within  to 
move  from  a  sense  of  the  many  gross  and  unlicensed  doings 
in  the  community,  must  act;  they  must  shower  their  feelings 
upon  their  neighbors'  hearts  and  minds. 

What  are  your  prospects?  We  want  you  to  visit  us  for 
a  few  days;  partly  socially;  a  good  deal  as  a  preacher  in  the 
every  day  sense.  You  promised  us  a  visit,  you  may  remem- 
ber. You  may  come  with  what  view  you  please.  We  want 
talk  to  the  parents  upon  the  subject  of  education;  education 
proper,  and  education  considered  in  a  social,  moral  and  relig- 
ious respect.  These  seasons  are  refreshing.  We  want  them 
to  keep  returning.  The  public  want  Treemount  talk.  The 
community  needs  temperance  preaching.  Can't  you  come 
among  us  about  the  beginning  of  September  or  near  that 
time;   the  second  week  or  last  of  August;  though  we  want 


I  58  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

time  plenty  to  give  notice.  We  wish  to  have  Dr.  Grimshaw, 
of  Wilmington,  with  us  at  the  same  time.  He  is  very  happy  as 
a  speaker  upon  the  subject  of  education.  A  very  intelligent 
gentleman.  Can  hit  the  divine  institution  pretty  hard  knocks. 
Write  soon.     Our  regards  to  you  all  as  ever. 

M.  B.  Linton. 
To  Samuel  Aaron. 


Philadelphia,  December  27,  1856. 

Dear  Sir — After  the  lapse  of  several  years  you  have 
doubtless  forgotten  the  whereabouts,  perhaps  the  name,  of 
your  former  student.  The  cares  and  anxieties,  inseparable 
from  your  vocation,  must  necessarily  eradicate  from  your 
recollection  many  of  those  who  have  received  invaluable  pre- 
cepts of  truth  and  morality  from  your  lips.  But  in  the  busy, 
careless  world,  they  will  remember  the  example  that  taught- 
them  to  inscribe  over  the  door  of  their  intellectual  sanctuary, 
integrity,  honor  and  virtue;  and  that  the  true  aim  of  learning 
is  to  illustrate  the  glory  and  goodness  of  the  great  Creator  of 
all  things.  Though  one  of  the  humblest  among  those  who 
then  surrounded  you,  permit  me  to  say  the  time  spent  with 
you  has  not  been  lost.  I  there  entered  upon  a  career  which, 
in  whatever  way  it  may  terminate,  that  time  will  occasion  no 
unpleasant  reflections. 

I  am  now  about  entering  professional  life  under  perhaps 
many  disadvantages;  yet  humbly  trusting  in  the  honesty  of 
my  intentions  and  blessing  of  God  to  become  at  least  a  re- 
spectable member  of  that  profession  and  an  honorable  man 
if  not  a  brilliant  advocate.  Full  of  these  hopes  and  anticipa- 
tions of  success,  I  send  you  my  best  wishes  and  profound 
respect. 

Yours  respectfully, 

John  A.  Burton. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 59 

Philadelphia,  May  26,  1857. 

My  Dear  Preceptor — For  such  I  do  love  yet  to  consider 
you — I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  send  you  in  the  accompany- 
ing card  a  notification  of  the  fact  that  the  mere  preparatory 
studies,  of  which  you  laid  the  foundation  more  than  nine 
years  ago,  are  now  in  a  measure  concluded,  and  a  wider  field, 
a  new  arena,  and  a  severer  struggle,  are  before  me.  While  I 
mourn  many  neglected  opportunities,  I  realize  now  the  wis- 
dom of  your  teachings,  and  sincerely  hope  that  their  fullest 
fruition  may  be  but  a  tithe  of  the  faithful,  earnest  endeavor 
with  which  you  did  your  duty  by  me. 

Desiring  to  be  remembered  with  sincere  affection  to  your 
most  excellent  wife  and  family,  for  whose  many  kindnesses  I 
cherish  the  liveliest  remembrance,  and  hoping  for  yourself 
many  long  years  of  usefulness,  and  that  happy  satisfaction  by 
you  more  prized  than  high  honor,  permit  me  to  be 

Yours  ever  truly, 

John  Goforth. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


Woodcock  Township,  Crawford  Co.,  Pa., 
June  18,  1833. 

My  Dear  Brothers — I  arrived  safely  at  J E 's  on 

Sunday  morning  last,  and  found  them  all  well.  They  live,  as 
you  have  heard,  on  the  great  road  leading  from  Meadville  to 
Erie,  six  miles  from  the  former  and  thirty-two  miles  from  the 
latter  town.  These  towns  contain  about  one  thousand  in- 
habitants each,  and  are  places  of  some  business;  and  no  doubt 
when  the  canal  is  finished  between  them,  forming  a  water 
communication  between  them  and  all  the  most  important 
towns  in  the  United  States,  their  importance  will  be  much  in- 
creased. 

The  turnpike  is  a  good  road  now,  though  only  an  earthen 

one,  and  divides  J 's  place  into  two  equal  parts,  running 

very  nearly  north  and  south.  The  soil  here  is  better  than  I 
expected  to  find  it;  the  surface  of  the  ground  quite  uneven, 


l6o  REV.   SAMUEL    AARON. 

more  so  than  in  N ,  though  there  are  very  few  steep  or 

high  hills.  The  water  is  pretty  good,  and  the  country  health- 
ful. They  have  found  as  yet  no  lime  quarries,  though  they 
say  that  where  the  creeks  cut  deep  through  hills  they  find 
numbers  of  stones  having  great  resemblance  to  limestone,  and 
some  say  that  they  afford  good  lime. 

The  face  of  the  ground  hereabouts  is  covered  with  a  sort 
of  shelly  gravel  like  that  along  the  Bristol  road.  The  soil  is 
not  very  sure  for  corn,  wheat  or  rye,  though  wheat  does  bet- 
ter than  either,  and^J has  some  that  looks  well.  Buck- 
wheat succeeds  very  well ;  J had  one  hundred  bushels  on 

three  acres,  or  somewhat  less.  The  grass  here  is  indeed  ex- 
cellent; white  clover  is  abundant,  and  that  and  timothy  come 
up  spontaneously  whenever  the  land  is  cleared.  The  cattle 
have  a  remarkably  fine  healthy  appearance,  and  the  cows,  of 
course,  on  such  sweet  pasture,  give  excellent  milk. 

I  am  better  pleased  with  the  country  here  than  I  expected 
to  be,  but  not  so  well  as  I  still  anticipate  with  the  Ohio  and 
Indiana  land.  The  land  of  upper  Canada,  a  good  deal  of 
which  I  have  seen,  is  astonishingly  fine  for  raising  wheat,  but 
they  are  so  perfectly  flat  that  I  could  never  endure  to  live 
there.  I  passed  over  from  Niagara  Falls  to  view  the  grounds 
where  the  bloody  battles  of  Bridgewater,  Chippewa  and  Fort 
Erie  were  fought,  and  stayed  all  night  on  the  battle-ground 
of  Chippewa,  where  the  gallant  General  Scott,  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet,  led  his  men  to  victory  against  the  veteran  ranks 
of  Scotch  and  English  chivalry.  But  if  I  am  spared  to  see 
you,  we  will  talk  of  these  and  other  matters. 

J and  M seem  pleased  with  the  country,  and 

determined   to   continue   here,  and   earnestly  advise  that  we 

should  all  come  here.     J has  now  about  forty  acres  of 

his  land  tolerably  well  cleared.  Most  of  the  tracts  about  him 
are  still  covered  in  great  part  with  dead  girdled  trees,  which 

makes   the   country  look  very  bad.     J ploughs   chiefly 

with  oxen,  though  he  keeps  two  horses.  Money  here  is  ex- 
ceedingly scarce;  almost  all  dealing  in  an  exchange  of  com- 
modities. The  store  on  French  Creek,  two  and  one-quarter 
miles  from  J 's,  takes  anything  in  trade  that  farmers  have. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 6  I 

Apples  and  peaches,  when  the  trees  are  properly  looked  after, 
are  produced  in  abundance. 

I  will  write  again  from  Columbus,  according  to  promise, 
if  I  live  to  get  there.  That  a  gracious  providence  may  pre- 
serve and  bless  you  and  yours,  is  the  sincere  wish  and  prayer 
of  your  brother, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Painesville,  Ohio,  June  30,  1833. 

My  Dear  E. — I  stayed  much  longer  at  J E 's 

than  I  intended,  in  consequence  of  their  over-persuasion,  as 
they  had  never  before  seen  any  of  their  relatives  there,  and 
have  little  hopes  of  ever  seeing  any  again.  My  stay  there 
was  about  ten  days.  Having  become  weary  of  travelling  by 
public  conveyance,  I  purchased  a  good  horse  near  Meadville, 
and  am  now  travelling  on  horseback.  So  far,  it  has  been 
rather  fatiguing,  yet  much  more  agreeable  than  before,  and 
less  expensive.  I  can  also  stop  and  start  where  and  when  I 
please.  When  I  last  wrote  I  thought  of  being  home  sooner 
than  is  my  present  expectation.  I  shall  hardly  get  back  un- 
der six  or  seven  weeks  yet,  as  I  wish  to  see  more  of  Ohio,  as 
well  as  Michigan,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and  shall  probably 
never  have  another  opportunity  so  suitable.  My  horse  racks, 
and  at  this  most  easy  gait  will  carry  me  near  or  quite  forty 
miles  a  day.  During  the  hottest  days  I  shall  not  travel  in  the 
hottest  part  of  the  day,  but  lie  by  in  the  shade  and  travel 
morning  and  evening. 

I  have  met  with  scarcely  any  adventures  since  I  wrote 
worth  mentioning.  Last  night,  however,  my  horse  stumbled 
while  I  was  crossing  Grand  river,  and  I  narrowly  escaped  be- 
ing precipitated  into  the  middle  of  it,  for  which  I  desire  to  feel 
truly  thankful. 

Since  I  wrote,  I  have  preached  three  times  and  delivered 
one  lecture  on  temperance  to  respectable  and  tolerably  nu- 
merous congregations.  I  have  been  to  hear  two  sermons  to- 
day from  a  Presbyterian  in  this  place,  and  they  were  very 
good  ones.  The  Presbyterians  and  Methodists  have  each  a 
meeting-house  here,  and  they  only,  though  there  are  twelve 


1 62  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

hundred  or  more  people  in  the  place.  Many  of  the  Baptists 
hereabout  have  followed  the  heresy  of  Alexander  Campbell, 
who  teaches  that  immersion  of  the  body  saves  the  soul;  and 
many,  shame  on  them,  have  turned  Mormonites,  who  profess 
to  have  received  a  new  revelation,  to  work  miracles,  and  speak 
divers  tongues  by  inspiration;  and  who,  in  short,  rather  take 
the  lead  of  all  the  fanatics  of  the  day. 

The  country  along  here  is  very  sandy;  at  this  place  you 
might  fancy  yourself  among  the  sand-banks  of  South  Jersey. 
Fruits  of  various  kinds  abound  here.  Peaches  arrive  at  great 
perfection.     They  are  so  plentiful  that  they  are  seldom  sold. 

As  nothing  further  of  an}-  importance  occurs  to  my  mind, 
I  close  with  expressions  of  kindness  towards  my  friends,  and 
the  assurance  that  I  remain  your  affectionate  husband, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Columbus,  July  11,  1833. 
My  Dear  Brother — According  to  promise,  I  am  now 
about  to  write  to  you  from  this  place.  As  I  am  in  a  hurry,  I 
must  proceed  without  much  attention  to  order,  and  will  men- 
tion the  facts  seeming  to  me  most  likely  to  gratify  you.  I 
have  been  blessed  with  good  health,  and  an  escape  from  all 
serious  accidents,  for  which  I  desire  to  be  grateful  to  Divine 
Providence.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H are  well,  and  seem  exceed- 
ingly cheerful  and  contented.  They  have  treated  me  like  a 
brother,  and  deserve,  and  shall  ever  have,  my  sincere  grati- 
tude.    This  is  the  third  day  of  my  being  in  Columbus,  and  I 

expect  to  leave  them  to-morrow.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  H would 

rejoice  to  see  you  and  all  their  friends  established  in  this 
country,  but  very  prudently  they  use  no  persuasion.  As  to 
this  place  and  country  they  have  not  been  overrated.  The 
town  is  growing  amazingly;  at  least  two-hundred  houses  are 

now  going  up.     Money  is   more   plentiful  than  in  D . 

The  morals  and  order  of  the  town  are  good,  and  the  place  as 
healthy  as  common  in  any  part  of  our  land.  The  town  lies 
one  hundred  feet  or  more  above  the  Scioto  river,  on  a  site  as 
well  adapted  to  building  as  can  be  conceived.     The  soil  round 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 6^ 

about  upon  this  higher  level  is  excellent,  but  that  down  upon 
the  river  bottoms,  from  three  to  ten  miles  wide,  is  of  such 
strength  as  far  to  surpass  any  that  you  ever  saw,  being  in 
many  places  a  black  mould  for  several  feet  in  depth,  and  re- 
sembling a  mixture  of  ashes  and  moulded  manure.  This 
is  too  strong  for  wheat;  but  sixty-five  acres  of  corn  that  I  saw 
in  one  tract  will  no  doubt  bring  about  one  hundred  bushels 
to  the  acre.  The  whole  region  reposes  upon  a  bed  of  lime- 
stone; and  the  very  pebbles  in  the  street  are  all,  when  burned, 
they  tell  me,  pure  lime;  and  there  is  no  doubt  of  it. 

Wild  land  of  the-best  quality,  from  three  to  ten  miles  from 
the  town,  may  be  had  for  five  to  ten  dollars  an  acre;  improved, 
from  ten  to  twenty-five  dollars.  The  upland  produces  from 
fifteen  to  twenty-five  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre;  and  they  just 
sow  it  among  their  Indian  corn  without  using  the  plow  at  all, 
and  then  harrow  it  over.  Better  farming,  you  can  tell  better 
than  I  can,  would  make  a  great  difference. 

There  is  a  cash  market,  and  a  very  ready  one  for  everv- 
thing  a  farmer  has  to  sell.  Indeed,  no  market  can  be  more 
brisk.  Wheat  brings  from  62^  to  75  cents;  wheat  flour  $2 
per  cwt. ;  corn  25;  oats  25;  cornmeal  not  sifted,  31  to  37 }i; 
butter  8  to  18;  eggs  6%;  hams  5  to  8  (hogs  are  kept  on 
clover  during  the  summer,  and  some  keep  $5,000  or  S6,ooo 
worth  of  them  and  sell  them  to  the  pork  merchants  for  cash, 
who  buy  them  alive  and  save  you  the  trouble  of  slaughtering 
them);  beeves  4^  cents;  hides  4^;  potatoes  25  to  50;  wood 
$1.25  to  $2.00;  cows  $10  to  $20;  horses  in  same  proportion; 
teaming  with  two  horses  $2  per  day.  This  is  unquestionably 
the  place  this  very  day  for  a  man  who  has  a  little  money  to 
double  it  very  soon.  You  can  loan  it  at  from  ten  to  twelve  per 
cent.  Had  I  my  lot  sold,  I  should  no  doubt  buy  here  before 
I  came  home. 

I  must  close.  I  shall  probably  go  no  further,  as  the 
weather  is  getting  very  warm,  and  for  other  reasons  I  wish  to 
be  at  home  before  long.  There  seems  to  be  a  fine  opportunity 
for  a  school  here,  but  I  am  engaged  to  Mr.  Gummere.  I 
bought  a  horse  near  Meadville,  and  intend  to  bring  him  home 
with  me.  Tell  my  friends  I  am  well,  and  in  particular  let  my 
dear  little  children  know  that  I  hope  to  be  at  home  soon  to 


f64  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

see  them.     May  a  gracious  God  bless  you  and  yours  in  this 
life  and  in  the  life  to  come. 

Your  affectionate  brother, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Woodcock  Township,  Sept.  16,  1836. 
My  Dear  E. — I  arrived  here  yesterday  morning  at  nine 
o'clock,  so  tired  that  I  have  not  yet  got  rested,  feeling  so  sore 
and  miserable  that  I  have  been  almost  afraid  of  getting  sick. 
This  was  the  effect  of  losing  a  great  deal  of  sleep,  and  travel- 
ling day  and  night  in  the  stage  over  some  of  the  roughest 
roads  in  the  world.  Saturday  night  overtook  me  at  Holli- 
daysburg,  a  town  at  the  head  of  the  canal  and  foot  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains,  where  a  railroad  two  miles  long  carries 
us  over  the  mountains.  Here  I  spent  the  Sabbath,  and  found 
to  my  surprise  a  Baptist  protracted  meeting  going  on,  at  which 
I  spoke  three  times,  preaching  one  regular  sermon  with  more 
liberty  than  common  for  me.  Monday,  before  daylight,  took 
the  railroad,  ascending  in  ten  miles  more  than  thirteen  hun- 
dred feet,  perpendicular,  by  means  of  five  inclined  planes, 
drawn  up  by  a  huge  rope  moved  by  a  steam  engine  at  the 
top.  Took  the  canal  again  at  Johnstown,  having  descended 
the  mountain  to  the  west  by  similar  planes.  On  Monday 
night,  in  consequence  of  the  heat,  left  my  berth  and  passed 
the  night  on  deck  without  a  wink  of  sleep.  Arrived  at  Pitts- 
burg Tuesday  afternoon  at  two  o'clock;  rose  at  three  o'clock 
next  morning  and  took  the  stage  and  went  on  one  hundred 
and  three  miles,  day  and  night,  to  where  I  now  am.  I  do  not 
believe  I  shall  be  able  to  start  home  before  Monday;  and  at 
what  time  you  may  expect  to  see  me  I  cannot  tell,  but  I  hope 

before  the  end  of  next  week.     I  find  M 's  affairs  by  no 

means  uncomfortable;  fifty  acres  of  the  best  grass  land  you 
ever  saw,  a  good  house,  and  a  new  barn.  The  girls  can  spin 
and  weave,  and  they  have  wool  and  flax.  I  remember  with 
the  utmost  tenderness  my  dear  children,  and  please  tell  them 
so.     I  desire  to  be  remembered  with  respect  and  affection  to 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 65 

our  dear  father,  and  indeed  to  all  the  family,  as  well  as  to 
friends  and  inquirers.  When  I  see  you  I  will  tell  you  all,  and 
now  remain  your  affectionate  husband, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Cleveland,  Ohio,  Sept.  25,  185 1. 
Dear  E. — We  arrived  here  last  evening  at  six  o'clock, 
after  a  rough  but  safe  passage  on  Lake  Erie  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty  miles  from  Dunkirk.  On  the  railroad  between  New 
Yorkand  Dunkirk,  we  were  detained  some  four  hours  by 
something  wrong  in  the  locomotive,  or  other  causes,  and  so 
lost  perhaps  twelve  hours  in  starting  on  the  lake.  This  was 
well,  as  the  passage  might  have  been  unsafe.  We  left  New 
York  at  six  p.  m.,  Monday,  and  rode  all  night  in  the  car,  and 
next  day  till  about  five  p.  m.,  nearly  five  hundred  miles.  I 
took  some  cold,  but  feel  quite  well  this  morning,  and  am  in  a 
hurry  to  get  to  meeting.  Dr.  Brisbane,  C.  M.  Clay,  Mr.  Gid- 
dings,  Mr.  Chase,  and  many  talented  men  are  present.  The 
convention  willjprobably  close  to-day,  and  I  shall  write  you 

again.     I  shall  write  soon  to  Mr.  S some  account  of  the 

convention  for  his  paper.  Give  my  love  to  the  family.  Tell 
the  children  they  would  have  been  glad  to  have  been  at  home 
if  they  hadjgot  on  the  lake  and  heard  the  winds  howling  and 
seen  the  waves  rolling  and  felt  the  boat  pitching  and  rocking 
and  staggering  to  and  fro  like  a  drunken  man. 
Yours  truly  as  ever, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Norristown,  Pa.,  August  15,  1857. 
My  Dear  Friend— -I  understand  that  it  is  your  settled  de- 
termination to  publish  a  book  on  the  science  and  art  of  elocu- 
tion, and  am  heartily  glad  to  learn  that  such  is  your  purpose. 
You  should  have  done  it  long  ago;  not  but  that  you  are  bet- 
ter able  now,  but  because  intelligent  teachers  and  docile  pu- 


I  66  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

pils  have  needed  the  work;  and  bad  reading  and  speaking 
have  been  learned  and  taught  by  thousands  who  wished  to  do 
right  but  knew  not  how.  Many  years  ago  you  taught  me, 
more  earnestly  than  any  other  preceptor,  to  study  and  en- 
deavor to  express  the  meaning  of  what  I  read ;  and  seven 
years  afterwards  we  both  listened  with  profit  and  delight  to 
Dr.  Jonathan  Barber,  who  insisted  on  adorning  the  sense  by 
harmony  of  tones  and  variety  of  modulation,  by  pitch,  slide, 
vanish  and  cadence.  We  then  studied  together  Dr.  James 
Rush's  "Human  Voice"  with  a  zeal  and  application  not  un- 
worthy of  success;  and  I  think  we  understood  that  original 
and  profound  work;  we  certainly  drew  from  it  more  well  de- 
fined ideas  of  the  uses  and  powers  of  the  human  voice  than 
from  all  other  sources;  and  have  always  rejoiced,  like  grate- 
ful disciples,  that  Dr.  Rush,  like  other  great  discoverers,  is 
worthy  of  present  reward  and  sure  of  posthumous  fame.  I 
recur  with  fond  remembrance  to  our  evening  study  of  the 
principles  of  Rush,  and  our  daily  practice  in  the  open  air  in 
training  the  lungs  to  give  volume  of  sound  and  explosive 
force,  and  drilling  the  other  vocal  organs  in  distinctness  and 
elegance  of  articulation.  We  used  to  recite  to  each  other  at 
four  hundred  yards  distance,  and  sometimes  more,  in  the 
open  fields,  and  were  distinctly  heard  without  great  apparent 
effort  on  your  part,  and  with  such  success  on  mine,  that  I  have 
often  since  addressed  thousands  of  people  at  once,  and  been 
better  heard  than  many  others.  With  all  this  mutual  study 
and  practice  it  is  surely  natural  for  me  to  attribute  some  im- 
portance to  our  efforts  and  some  merit  to  our  acquirements; 
and  it  has  happened  to  you  more  than  to  myself  to  continue 
thinking  carefully  and  pleasantly  upon  this  matter  for  more 
than  thirty  years.  *  *  *  *  You  have  my  best  wishes 
for  your  success,  and  I  hope  soon  to  receive  a  copy  of  your 
proposed  work. 

Your  sincere  friend, 

Samuel  Aaron. 
Mr.  Samuel  R.  Gummere. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 67 

Mount  Holly,  N.J.  Nov.  11,  1862. 
My  Dear  Friend — Your  letter  was   received  on  the  3d 
inst.     Its  opening  gladdened  the  hearts  of  us  all.     *     *     * 
I  must  notice  your  four  points  on  state  affairs. 

1.  The  thorough  abolition  of  slavery  is  right,  but  will 
never  be  felicitous  (God's  existence,  and  moral  and  personal 
character  being  granted)  till  the  nation,  as  such,  confesses  and 
deplores  the  wrong  done  to  the  enslaved.  A  nation,  to  be 
truly  happy,  must  give  moral  reasons  for  its  acts  and  laws ; 
and  ours  has  erred  in  making  no  recognition  of  a  Supreme 
Being  in  its  organic  law. 

2.  Your  thoughts  on  a  national  system  of  common 
schools  are  excellent.  I  add,  that  attendance  on  the  part  of 
sane  and  healthy  children  between  certain  ages  should  be 
compulsory,  even  to  the  extent  of  taking  the  children  from 
worthless  or  brutal  parents.  Further;  the  moral  training 
should  be  pure  and  most  decided,  based  without  any  sectarian 
bias,  en  the  moral  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  then,  with- 
out the  least  tyrannic  spirit,  the  strictest  obedience  to  orders 
and  subordination  to  authority  should  be  enforced.  I  am 
fully  persuaded  that  the  reckless  impudence  and  unrestrained- 
ness  of  our  American  youth  threaten  the  nation  with  as  dread 
a  ruin  as  the  struggle  now  on  hand. 

3.  Your  views  on  "citizenship"  are  not  quite  clear  to 
my  mind.  I  agree  that  the  National  Legislature  would  be  the 
best  depository  of  the  vote  privilege  (for  this  is  acknowledged 
to  be  a  privilege  rather  than  a  right),  and  there  would  be  lit- 
tle or  no  danger  of  wronging  any  one  but  those  of  African  de- 
scent. The  open  discussion  of  the  suffrage  question  would 
probably  lead  towards  justice  in  regard  to  black  as  well  as 
white  men,  but  the  "  Dred  Scott  decision,"  so  called,  ought  not 
to  be  quoted,  or  in  any  way  referred  to,  so  as  to  act  as  a  ham- 
per on  legislative  action.  You  know  it  was  an  "obiter  dic- 
tum," an  "out-of-the-way  opinion,"  foisted  in  by  a  judicial  ty- 
rant, when  a  totally  different  question,  and  that  only,  was  be- 
fore him. 

4.  Your  ideas  on  national  consolidation  are  reasonable, 
and  likely  to  become  practical,  and  your  proposed  mode  of 


1 68  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

organizing  legislatures  and  guaranteeing  the  rights  of  persons 
and  property,  is  certainly  plausible,  in  my  opinion,  good,  and 
very  original. 

On  the  subject  of  choosing  representatives,  etc.,  I  will 
suggest  a  thought  for  your  consideration.  Suppose  that  one 
member  of  Congress  be  apportioned  to  every  20,000  voters, 
and  that  11,000  or  more  be  required  to  elect  each  member; 
and  that  on  that  basis  your  state  would  get  five  members. 
Let  there  be  no  districts,  but  let  every  voter  in  the  state  vote 
for  whom  he  pleased,  the  candidate  being  an  American  citizen. 
Then  suppose  the  "Republican"  and  "Democratic"  parties 
both  corrupt,  and  that  you  and  10,999  other  men  in  the  state 
wish  purity  and  reform  in  the  nation,  you  could,  through  a 
small  minority  of  the  100,000  voters,  be  represented  in  Con- 
gress, and  heard  by  the  whole  nation.  According  to  our  pre- 
sent system,  often  the  best  men  are  not  represented  for  many 
years,  and  sometimes  not  at  all.  A  party  commencing  with 
good  and  pure  purposes  is  tempted  to  go  into  collusion  with 
another  corrupt  minority  in  order  to  defeat  a  still  more  cor- 
rupt plurality.  I  think  this  principle  is  right  and  wise  because 
it  provides,  at  least  in  a  state  having  many  people,  for  a  re- 
spectful hearing  of  a  small  minority,  and  tends  to  promote  the 
progress  of  reformatory  measures. 

You  will  have  learned  before  you  get  this  that  "  Demo- 
cracy" has  again  a  potent  voice  in  our  Easterm  elections. 
Still  they  would  have  been  utterly  defeated  in  every  state  but 
New  Jersey  had  the  volunteers  now  in  service  been  permitted 
to  vote.  The  removal  of  McClellan  gives  nearly  universal 
satisfaction.  A  very  few  more  months  of  his  "strategy" 
would  have  crowned  the  rebels  with  triumph. 

You  drop  a  hint  which  seems  to  disparage  Freemont. 
Do  you  so  mean?  He  has  constantly  risen  in  my  estimation 
since  the  war  began.  He  suggested  in  Paris  in  March,  1861, 
the  immediate  purchase  in  Europe  of  500,000  small  arms  and 
a  proportionate  quantity  of  other  munitions  of  war,  and  send- 
ing a  corresponding  force  to  use  them,  and  the  freeing  of 
every  rebel's  slave;  his  subsequent  acts  have  all  gone  to  match 
that  earnest  policy ;    Stonewall  Jackson  pronounced  him  his 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 69 

most  formidable  competitor;    and  the  administration  at  last, 
perhaps  too  late,  is  adopting  his  policy. 

The  school  is  well  patronized  this  year.  I  can  talk  as 
loud  as  ever,  but  am  more  brief.  I  hope  you  will  write  me 
when  you  can  and  I  will  generally  reply.  Nothing  but  a  sense 
of  duty  is  sufficient  to  confine  me  to  the  drudgery  of  letter- 
writing,  so  little  relish  have  I  for  copying  my  thoughts;  yet 
one  has  but  little  claim  to  the  favor  of  receiving  letters  who  is 
too  indolent  or  too  negligent  to  write  to  his  friends.  "Trust 
in  the  Lord  and  do  good." 

"*  Yours  truly, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Burlington,  N.  J.,  1837. 

Whereas,  This  Association  are  in  the  habit  of  religious 
correspondence  with  several  Baptist  Associations  in  the  slave- 
holding  states;  and 

Whereas,  Our  Baptist  brethren  of  the  South  generally 
do  defend  and  sanction  the  institution  of  American  slavery  as 
consistent  with  sound  morals  and  pure  Christianity;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  this  body  to  make  known 
to  these  our  correspondents  our  solemn  conviction  that  Am- 
erican slavery  is  sinful  in  the  sight  of  God,  directly  contrary 
to  the  whole  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  inevitably  productive 
of  the  worst  evils,  social,  intellectual  and  spiritual. 

Resolved  further,  That  we  do  hereby  admonish  and  en- 
treat our  Baptist  brethren  of  the  South  and  elsewhere  to 
search  the  Scriptures,  and  examine  all  other  legitimate  evi- 
dence in  reference  to  slavery,  and  if  led  to  adopt  our  opinion,, 
as  above  expressed,  we  conjure  them  to  testify  against  it  as 
we  have  done. 


I70  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Address  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  of  Burlington, 
N.  J.,  to  the  Community. 

Fellow-Citizens — We  ask  your  candid  and  serious  atten- 
tion to  a  brief  statement  of  our  views  in  reference  to  slavery, 
because  we  believe  the  subject  to  be  of  the  highest  importance; 
because  we  feel  impelled  by  a  sense  of  duty  which  we  dare 
not  neglect,  to  labor  for  the  conviction  of  other  minds  besides 
our  own;  and  especially  because  our  principles  are,  to  a  great 
extent,  unexamined,  misrepresented,  or  misunderstood. 

Anti-slavery  principles. 

1.  In  our  general  principles  we  expect  to  agree  with  you 
all.  That  when  a  man  is  guilty  of  no  crime  against  his  fel- 
lows, it  is  the  prerogative  of  God  alone  to  take  away  his  life, 
to  impose  stupidity  and  ignorance  upon  his  mind,  to  inflict 
disease  or  wounds  upon  his  body,  to  prevent  or  sever  the  tie 
of  marriage,  to  deprive  him  of  his  offspring,  to  take  from  him 
for  private  use  the  earnings  of  his  labor,  or  the  acquisition  of 
his  skill.  It  is  self-evident  that  these  principles  do  not  enforce 
the  amalgamation  of  different  races  or  nations  of  men,  that 
they  do  not  interfere  with  the  peculiar  tastes  of  individuals  or 
with  the  gradations  of  society.  They  only  prohibit  encroach- 
ment on  that  free  agency  of  man  which  the  Creator  has  be- 
stowed. They  are  the  simple  elements  of  justice.  The  ex- 
ceptions to  some  of  these  principles  have  been  prescribed  by 
the  divine  law  in  reference  to  children;  and  special  license  was 
given  to  the  Jews  to  enslave  certain  nations  doomed  to  pun- 
ishment. But  these  exceptions  only  confirm  the  general  rule 
in  the  most  striking  manner,  because  they  are  defined  and  en- 
forced with  so  great  a  particularity.  And  those  who  main- 
tain slavery  on  the  authority  of  the  law  of  Moses,  should  afc>o 
claim  the  right  to  enslave  white  men,  and  to  extirpate  by  the 
sword,  as  the  Jews  were  bidden  to  do,  the  surrounding  heathen 
tribes.  To  be  as  explicit  as  possible,  we  believe  that  the  oniy 
right  rule  for  human  intercourse  is,  "Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself";  in  other  words,  "  Do  unto  all  men  as  ye 
would  that  they  should  do  unto  you."  On  this  precept  our 
Anti-slavery  sentiments  are  founded;    by  this  we  intend  that 


CORRESPONDENCE.  \Jl 

our  action  shall  be  limited  and  restrained;  in  defence  of  this, 
if  called  to  suffer,  we  hope  to  be  strengthened  by  its  author; 
and  from  attempting  to  propagate  this  truth  we  feel  that 
neither  public  opinion  nor  human  laws  have  authority  to 
hinder  us. 

The  evils  of  slavery. 

2.  The  essential  evils  of  slavery,  we  believe,  consist  in 
the  violation  of  the  principles  above  stated;  man  thus  assum- 
ing over  his  fellow  man  a  power  which  is  the  sole  prerogative 
of  God.  The  code  of  slavery  substitutes  the  will  of  the  mas- 
ter for  the  divine  will;  and  this  absurd  and  sinful  beginning, 
as  a  cause,  produces  effects  so  many  and  so  evil  that  they  can 
neither  be  numbered  nor  described.  It  must  suffice  to  say 
that  innocent  human  beings  are  bought  and  sold  like  brutes; 
that  they  are  tasked,  chained,  lacerated  and  maimed  as  brutes 
seldom  are;  that  their  lives  are  taken  with  impunity  when  the 
furious  passions  of  their  drivers  demand  the  sacrifice;  that  the 
marriage  relation,  ordained  by  Jehovah,  is  ridiculed  and  de- 
stroyed; that  their  minds  are  kept  as  dark  as  possible,  on  pain 
of  death  to  him  who  would  enlighten  them;  and  what  is,  per- 
haps, worst  of  all,  multitudes  of  children  are  reared  and  held 
as  property,  or  sold  to  enrich  their  own  fathers. 

The  remedies  for  slavery. 

3.  Several  remedies  for  the  evils  of  slavery  are  proposed. 
The  one  that  is  most  common  and  most  popular  in  these  parts 
is  to  let  it  alone  to  work  its  own  cure,  assuming  that  we,  of 
New  Jersey,  have  nothing  to  do  with  slavery,  and  that  it  is 
improper,  if  not  criminal,  to  discuss  the  subject.  But  our 
highest  judicial  authorities  have  recently  declared  from  the 
b<?nch  that  we  are  a  slaveholding  people,  and  bound  by  the 
law  to  uphold  slavery  in  our  own  state,  for  a  time  at  least, 
and  especially  in  other  states,  even  by  the  sacrifice  of  our 
lives.  Recurring  then  to  our  first  principles,  we  feel  unable 
to  rest  tamely  under  such  obligations  as  these,  believing  it  to 
be  the  right  and  duty  of  a  free  people  to  ask  for  the  repeal  or 
alteration  of  unjust  and  oppressive  laws;  besides  that,  we  be- 
lieve on  such  a  scheme  a  crisis  of  slaughter  and  devastation 


172  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

would  soon  arrive,  at  which  humanity  shudders.  Some  would 
mitigate  slavery,  preserving  the  relation  of  master  and  slave, 
but  making  it  consist  of  lordly  and  noble  beneficence  on  the 
one  part,  and  humble,  dependent  gratitude  on  the  other.  We 
appeal  to  our  first  principles  which  recognize  God  only  as  the 
bestower  of  man's  inherent  rights,  and  alone  entitled  to  grati- 
tude for  their  enjoyment.  Besides,  we  refer  to  all  records, 
divine  and  human,  to  prove  that  a  "corrupt  tree  cannot  bring 
forth  good  fruit";  that  a  system  founded  in  error  cannot  pro- 
mote truth  or  happiness. 

The  complete  amalgamation  of  the  white  and  colored 
races  is  another  remedy  that  was  proposed  with  apparent 
gravity  by  an  eminent  Southern  statesman  some  years  ago. 
This  process  is  carried  on  extensively  in  the  South,  with  the 
purpose,  however,  not  to  diminish  but  to  increase  the  number 
of  slaves;  and  in  the  North  the  most  violent  and  practical 
haters  of  the  abolitionists  encourage  at  the  polls  and  practice 
individually  to  some  extent  a  lawless  amalgamation,  while 
they  inflict  all  the  horrors  of  the  code-lynch  on  those  whom 
they  pretend  to  think  guilty  of  promoting  a  lawful  intercourse 
between  black  and  white.  Amalgamation,  lawful  or  unlawful, 
abolitionists  wholly  disapprove.  When  lawful  and  probably 
innocent,  they  think  it  incompatible  with  a  correct  taste; 
practised,  as  it  commonly  is,  they  deem  it  an  enormous  sin; 
in  either  way,  therefore,  a  doubtful  and  dangerous  expedient 
for  the  removal  of  slavery. 

The  colonization  of  the  blacks  on  a  foreign  shore  is  much 
advised  by  the  highest  names,  and  much  illustrated  and  em- 
blazoned by  flaming  eloquence  and  zeal  throughout  the  Union ; 
yet  the  object  has  been  in  twenty  years  most  sparingly  effected. 
The  most  remarkable  events  connected  with  the  colony  abroad 
have  been  the  wars  between  it  and  the  neighboring  tribes,  tne 
forcible  acquisition  of  their  lands,  and  waste  of  human  life  by 
endemic  diseases;  and  at  home,  the  passage  by  several  states 
of  laws,  virtually  forcing  the  free  blacks  from  their  native 
land,  and  the  excitement  of  a  public  feeling  decidedly  opposed 
to  their  remaining  in  this  country  on  any  terms  but  that  of 
slavery.  Meanwhile,  the  colonists  number  about  three  thou- 
sand; and  they  for  the  most  part  are  in  abject  poverty;  while 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 73 

the  increase  of  blacks  in  the  United  States  during  the  same 
period  has  been  much  above  half  a  million.  We  can,  there- 
fore, see  nothing  in  this  scheme,  however  well  meant,  that 
promises,  under  present  circumstances,  the  freedom  or  the 
happiness  of  the  whole  colored  race. 

Finally,  we  have  full  confidence  in  the  remedy  as  applied 
recently  in  the  British  West  Indies.  Immediate  and  universal 
emancipation.  We  ask  our  General  Government  to  emanci- 
pate first,  as  far  as  in  their  power,  and  to  prohibit  the  slave 
trade  among  the  states.  We  ask  the  respective  slave  states 
to  pass  acts  of  universal  emancipation,  accompanied  with 
ample  and  wise  provisions  for  the  improvement  of  the  minds 
and  morals  of  the  colored  race,  and  for  the  suppression  of  in- 
dolence and  vagrancy.  Let  those  now  toiling  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  whip  be  remunerated  with  suitable  wages,  and 
reason  and  experience  both  demonstrate  the  mutual  and  happy 
advantage  of  the  change. 

In  conclusion,  we  express  the  earnest  hope  that  you,  to 
whom  we  are  privileged  to  appeal,  will  not  strive  to  cramp 
the  "Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation."  Do  you  doubt  the 
expediency  of  freeing  the  enslaved?  Examine  the  evidence 
in  the  case  of  the  West  Indies  and  doubt  no  more.  The  book 
of  Thome  and  Kimball  has  satisfied  Dr.  Charming,  Governor 
Everett,  and  many  others.  Behold,  nearly  five  hundred  thou- 
sand of  the  colored  race,  perhaps  ten-fold  the  number  of  their 
masters,  emancipated  with  entire  safety  in  a  single  day,  by 
those  very  masters,  who,  a  short  time  before,  predicted  havoc 
and  utter  ruin  as  the  consequence.  With  such  an  example 
before  us  and  so  near  us,  emancipation  in  this  country  almost 
ceases  to  deserve  the  name  of  a  great  and  hazardous  experi- 
ment. In  the  speedy,  the  quiet  and  perfectly  successful 
emancipation  of  the  British  West  Indies,  who  does  not  per- 
ceive the  interposition  of  Divine  Providence  in  favor  of  anti- 
slavery  principles.  We  hope,  therefore,  that  you  will  not,  by 
your  silence  or  faint  condemnation,  virtually  sustain  and  en- 
courage (as  most  of  our  newspapers  have  done)  that  spirit  that 
destroyed  Pennsylvania  Hall  and  murdered  Lovejoy.  That 
spirit  would  suppress  all  discussion  of  the  rights  and  wrongs 
of  the  slave  and  extirpate  his  friends  by  the  brand  of  the  mob 


174  REV-  SAMUEL   AARON. 

or  the  assassin's  weapon.  We  firmly  believe  there  are  many 
thousands  of  intelligent  and  conscientious  persons  in  this 
country  who  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to  God  to  publish  and 
peaceably  to  oppose  the  enormous  sin  and  the  horrid  results 
of  slavery.  Under  this  impression  they  must,  of  course,  sur- 
render life  itself  rather  than  cease  to  do  their  duty.  Shall 
such  persons  be  sacrificed?  Will  you  give  them  up  as  vic- 
tims to  a  brutal  mob?  Or  shall  they  be  heard  and  answered 
with  better  reasons  than  their  own?  We,  in  this  city,  actuated 
by  a  peaceable  spirit,  have  asked  for  several  years  no  public 
building  wherein  to  make  known  our  righteous  principles; 
we  have  not,  indeed,  found  here  a  willing  toleration  to  stand 
on  the  bare  earth  beneath  the  covering  of  the  free  heavens  to 
argue  the  sin  of  making  merchandise  of  the  image  of  God. 
But  though  the  church  and  the  public  press  and  the  free  air 
have  been  consecrated  against  us,  we  still  have  the  use  of 
paper,  ink  and  types  to  ask  your  attention  and  invoke  your 
honest  and  rational  judgment. 

By  order  of  the  Society. 

Samuel  Aaron,  President. 
John  Parish,  Secretary. 


August  22,  1838. 
The  Preamble  and  Principal  Articles  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
Burlington  Anti-Slavery  Society. 


PREAMBLE. 


We,  the  subscribers,  conscientiously  believe  that  every 
rational  human  being  comprises  within  himself  a  complete 
system  (separate  and  distinct  from  every  other)  of  powers  and 
faculties,  such  as  bodily  strength,  appetites,  passions,  under- 
standing, will,  and  conscience,  for  the  lawful  use  and  exercise 
of  which  he  is  alone  accountable  to  the  Supreme  Being;  that 
man  has  no  right,  himself,  to  destroy,  abuse,  or  surrender 
these  his  own  powers  and  faculties;  much  less  can  they  be 
destroyed,  injured,  trafficed  in,  or  controlled  by  another; 
that  any  interference  withthis  divine  arrangement  is,  by  the 
proof  of  all  history,  inevitably  productive  of  confusion,  crime 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 75 

and  misery,  degrading  alike  the  injurer  and  the  injured,  be- 
getting in  the  heart  of  the  oppressor  a  stupid,  impotent  and 
cruel  selfishness,  and,  in  that  of  the  oppressed,  a  spirit  of  blind 
and  insatiable  revenge,  fit  elements  for  the  self-destruction  of 
nations,  and  for  the  banishment  of  knowledge,  peace  and  love 
from  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men.  Being,  therefore,  desirous 
to  promote,  in  some  humble  measure,  the  correct  comprehen- 
sion and  universal  prevalence  of  human  rights  (which  we 
firmly  believe  we  have  a  perfect  right  to  do),  we  form  our- 
selves into  a  society  for  that  purpose,  and  adopt  for  our  regu- 
lation the  following: 

CONSTITUTION. 

Article  i.  This  Society  shall  be  called  the  Anti-Slavery 
Society  of  the  City  and  County  of  Burlington  and  Vicinity, 
and  shall  be  auxiliary  to  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society. 

Article  2.  The  object  of  this  Society  shall  be  the  use 
of  all  peaceable  and  moral  means  to  exhibit  to  public  view  the 
enormous  evils  of  that  system  of  slavery  which  disturbs,  af- 
flicts and  threatens  with  destruction  this  great  republic,  and 
especially  to  persuade  those  who  hold  slaves  of  their  sin  in  so 
doing,  and  of  their  duty  immediately  to  emancipate  them, 
and  practice  towards  them  that  divine  precept  which  requires 
us  to  love  our  neighbors  as  ourselves.  The  Society  shall 
also  aim  to  remove  public  prejudice,  and  improve  the  char- 
acter and  condition  of  the  free  people  of  color  by  encouraging 
their  intellectual  and  moral  elevation,  that  thus  they  may  be- 
come qualified  to  share  an  equality  with  us  in  civil  and  relig- 
ious privileges. 


Norristown,  Pa.,  1844. 

Whereas,  The  Churches  of  the  South  do,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, sanction  and  sustain  the  system  of  American  Slavery, 
appealing  to  the  Bible  for  its  justification;  and 

Whereas,  the  great  body  of  the  Churches  at  the  North 
do  regard  it  as  a  great  moral  evil,  and  very  many  churches 
and  associations  have  declared  it  to  be  such  a  sin  against  God 


176  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

and  man  as  to  render  any  individual  involved  in  it  unworthy 
of  a  place  at  the  table  of  the  Lord; 

Resolved,  That  with  views  and  practices  so  at  variance 
and  antagonistical  the  one  to  the  other,  it  is  in  vain  to  hope 
for  pleasure  or  utility  from  a  continued  effort  to  coalesce  in 
this  matter;  but  on  the  other  hand,  that  pain  to  many  hearts, 
and  the  crippling  of  the  energies  of  all  concerned,  must  be  the 
result;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  such  a  division  of  the  convention  as  will 
leave  both  of  the  above  parties  free  to  work  in  the  cause  on 
their  own  ground  and  by  their  own  chosen  instrumentalities, 
unimpeded  by  conflicting  views  and  feelings,  is  indispensable 
to  the  success  of  the  cause  of  missions. 


*  Norristown,  Pa.,  June  15,  1851. 
Dear  Sir — I  have  received  your  very  courteous  and 
friendly  letter  of  the  10th  instant  and  thoughtfully  noted  its 
contents.  I  will  unite  with  all  my  heart  in  the  project  to  pro- 
cure from  the  surrounding  clergy  an  expression  of  their  senti- 
ments in  reference  to  slavery.  Could  they,  or  any  part  of 
them,  be  prevailed  upon  to  condemn  it,  even  in  the  mildest 
terms,  it  would  go,  perhaps,  as  far  as  any  one  measure  to  set 
the  people  right.  And  if  the  Christian  ministry  of  the  whole 
country  would  set  their  seal  of  reprobation  on  this  hateful  in- 
stitution, I  doubt  not  it  would  soon  be  swept  from  the  land. 
Call  then  the  pastors  of  this  town  together  and  let  them  unite 
in  an  earnest  invitation  to  the  neighboring  brethren  to  assem- 
ble, consult  and  resolve.  Nothing  but  good  can  come  of  it, 
do  what  they  may.  I  will  meet  them  and  advise,  if  thought 
best,  but  will  not  even  seem  to  lead  in  the  measures  for  many 
reasons,  one  only  of  which  is  this:  I  am  fully  committed, 
pledged  and  resolved,  with  God's  help,  to  co-operate  with  all 
abolitionists  of  every  shade  of  opinion  in  battling  against 
slavery;  and  that  necessarily  creates  a  prejudice  greater  or 
less  against  me  in  the  minds  of  clergymen  who  attach  more 
importance  than  I  do  to  the  ministerial  profession.     I  entreat 


CORRESPONDENCE.  177 

you  to  push  forward  this  project  without  delay  and  with  the 
utmost  energy. 

I  learn  from  sources  apparently  credible,  that  in  your 
sermon  of  the  8th  instant  you  made  some  very  disparaging 
allusions  to  George  Thompson  and  to  his  friends  here,  espe- 
cially those  who  were  most  zealous  to  get  him  here.  I  feel, 
with  others,  displeased  and  aggrieved  for  the  sake  of  the  cause 
that  the  force  of  your  eloquence  and  the  weight  of  your  char- 
acter should  be  suffered  to  be  thus  appropriated  by  the  ene- 
mies of  human  rights.  If  you  would  permit  me  to  peruse 
and  copy  the  notes  of  the  sermon,  I  would  regard  it  as  an  act 
of  magnanimity — which  a  man  of  your  character  can  well  af- 
ford to  do — as  well  as  of  justice,  which,  I  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve, you  are  always  disposed  to  do.  If  the  remarks  were  as 
represented  to  me,  I  wish  to  reply  publicly  in  defense  of  Mr. 
T and  his  friends. 

Very  sincerely  your  friend  and  brother, 

Samuel  Aaron. 
Rev.  John  M'Cron. 


Norristown,  March  13,  1844. 
Reverend  and  Dear  Sir — If  feeling  reverence  for,  or  rever- 
ing goodness,  be  one  of  the  definitions  of  the  term  Reverend, 
I  shall  make  no  apology  to  Mr.  Aaron  for  addressing  him  by 
a  title  which,  in  a  merely  clerical  sense,  I  believe  he  disap- 
proves. And  for  addressing  him  at  all,  I  have  no  apology  to 
offer  other  than  that  I  am  irresistibly  impelled  by  feelings  of 
earnest  gratitude  to  thank  him  most  sincerely  and  warmly  for 
his  many  and  excellent  teachings  since  his  arrival  among  us, 
and  to  acknowledge  the,  I  hope,  lasting  benefit  I  have  derived 
therefrom.  The  deep  regret  that  Mr.  Aaron's  contemplated 
retirement  has  caused,  I  cannot  so  readily  express,  for  I  can- 
not dwell  upon  it  with  anything  like  composure.  If  I  did  not 
know  that  he  was  actuated  by  the  most  conscientious  motives, 
and  had  decided,  after  prayerful  and  solemn  deliberation,  I 
should,  judging  from  my  own  feelings,  beg  him  to  pause  ere 
he  resigned  a  situation  of  deep  usefulness,  and  where  he  ex- 


I78  REV.   SAMUEL    AARON. 

ercised  great  influence  upon  many  persons,  of  whom,  perhaps, 
he  never  thought  and  personally  never  knew.  I  am,  myself, 
one  of  that  class  of  persons.  Where  now  shall  they  look  for 
instruction?  Where  find  the  impress  of  sincerity,  without 
which  words  fall  all  powerless  upon  the  heart?  God  forbid 
that  I  should  judge  any  rashly,  but  when  I  see  men  shrink 
from  known  duty  by  refraining,  from  motives  of  policy,  from 
denouncing  fearlessly  and  constantly  what  they  know  and 
have  acknowledged  to  be  most  heinous  sins,  I  think  they 
must  have  something  radically  wrong  in  their  hearts;  must 
from  the  very  nature  of  the  case  be  insincere,  and  cannot,  as 
a  consequence,  be  respected  as  conscientious  and  Christian 
men,  much  less  have  any  influence  as  public  teachers,  at  least 
upon  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  free  from  sectarian  prejudices, 
and  I  confess  myself  one  of  that  class. 

And  now  I  would  fain  give  expression  to  the  esteem  with 
which  I  have  long  regarded  Mr.  Aaron's  character,  were  it  not 
that  I  might  be  liable  to  the  imputation  of  flattery.  But  no! 
I  shall  be  exonerated  from  such  a  charge  when  I  state  simply 
that  what  I  have  said,  or  may  say,  is  in  all  sincerity.  It  is  said 
that  a  knowledge  of  one's  own  heart  is  the  only  true  key  by 
which  we  can  attain  to  a  knowledge  of  the  hearts  of  others. 

If  true,  I  abide  by  Mr.  A 's  decision,  as  the  love  of  truth 

is  one  of  his  most  striking  characteristics.  I  have  for  years, 
sir,  watched  your  career  with  trembling  anxiety,  fearing  that 
you  might  be  induced  to  swerve  from  the  path  of  stern  duty, 
from  the  fear  of  man,  fear  of  not  being  "popular,"  etc.  But  I 
forgot, at  those  moments,  that  a  faithful  servant  of  his  master 
trusted  not  in  his  own  strength;  and  he  will  support  those 
who  are  faithful  and  fearless;  he  has  supported.  The  very 
persons  who  are  loudest  in  the  cry  of  "denunciation,"  "want 
of  charity,"  "goes  too  far,"  are  those  who  envy  the  courage 
they  dare  not  imitate;  who  reverence  in  their  hearts  and  feel 
"how  awful  goodness  is."  I  feel  happy  Mr.  Aaron  has  not, 
and  I  hope  will  not,  notice  the  slanderous  imputations  the 
newspapers  have  put  forth.  Methinks,  could  the  pretended 
friends  of  temperance  "be  touched  with  Ithuriel's  spear,"  we 
would  see  exhibited  the  personification  of  envy,  hatred  and 
malice.     It  must  and  will  recoil  upon  themselves. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 79 

Ah!  how  beautiful  a  thing  is  faith,  firm,  unwavering  faith 
in  the  goodness  of  at  least  some  of  our  species;  how  it  repays 
the  possessor  a  hundred  fold.  What  pity  the  jewel  is  so 
rare.  Surely  angels  must  weep  that  sin  will  not  allow  us  to 
retain  the  bright  thing.  Sometimes  we  can  do  so;  would  it 
were  oftener.  When  I  have  heard  Mr.  Aaron's  motives  im- 
pugned, his  talents  deprecated,  and  even  his  piety  doubted, 
I  have  been  happy  enough  never  to  have  had  my  confidence 
shaken  in  him  for  a  moment.  I  have  defended  him  warmly 
and  fearlessly  where  I  thought  there  was  a  possibility  of  his 
character  being  appreciated,  but  have  sometimes  found  the 
mist  of  prejudice  so  thick  that  the  task  was  a  herculean  one. 
But  I  have  been  rewarded  in  the  extorted  acknowledgment 
that  perhaps  these  things  were  so.  I  will  now  relate  a  case 
of  misrepresentation. 

Upon  a  recent  occasion  you  commented  from  the  pulpit, 
and  that  in  terms  scarcely  severe  enough,  upon  the  degener- 
ate and  vitiated  taste  of  the  age  with  regard  to  literature.  You 
referred  to  our  own  library  as  a  specimen,  it  being  almost  filled 
with  light  works.  Upon  the  afternoon  of  that  Sabbath  the  fol- 
lowing colloquy  took  place  on  the  street,  the  principal  speaker 
being  a  man  who  in  matters  apart  from  prejudice  is  clear-headed 

enough.      "Well,  B ,  were  you  to   hear   Mr.  Aaron  this 

morning  ?"  "  Yes,  I  was ;  and,  as  usual,  he  was  abusing  every- 
body.    Why,  even  poor ,  the  librarian,  could  not  escape, 

and  I  was  so  disgusted  by  hearing  him  abused  that  I  left  the 
church  immediately."  That,  sir,  I  consider  a  pretty  fair  spe- 
cimen of  the  misrepresentations  you  have  been  subjected  to 
for  the  last  eighteen  months.  But  the  greatest  philanthropist 
that  was  ever  upon  the  earth,  he  who  went  about  continually 
doing  good,  who  lived  for  others  alone — aye,  and  who  died  for 
them  also — was  hated  and  despised  for  his  goodness,  and  had 
false  testimony  borne  against  him.  How  much  more,  then, 
should  imperfect  man  bear  with  meekness  the  rebuffs  and  oppo- 
sition truth  ever  meets  with  at  the  hands  of  sinful  men!  Mr. 
Aaron  loves  too  well  his  fellow-man  to  be  deterred  from  labor- 
ing for  their  good,  even  if  met,  as  he  has  been,  with  the  basest 
ingratitude.  Though  human  nature  is  so  generally  perverse, 
there  are  many  who  love  and  honor  him   for  his   efforts   to 


l8o  REV.   SAMUEL   AARON. 

ameliorate  the  condition  of  those  around  him,  and  pray  often 
and  fervently  that  he  may  be  strengthened  to  plead  the  cause 
of  suffering  humanity  with  increased  success.  Often  and  elo- 
quently has  he  already  done  so, — may  he  never  falter  in  the 
God-like  task.  Great  is  the  strength  of  an  individual  soul  true 
to  its  high  trust. 

I  will  relate  an  anecdote  that  I  somewhere  read,  which  I 
think  apropos.  "A  German  whose  sense  of  sound  was  ex- 
ceedingly acute,  was  passing  by  a  church  a  day  or  two  after 
he  had  landed  in  this  country,  and  the  sound  of  music  attracted 
him  to  enter,  though  unacquainted  with  our  language.  The 
music  proved  to  be  a  piece  of  psalmody  sung  in  most  discord- 
ant fashion,  and  the  sensitive  foreigner  would  fain  have  covered 
his  ears.  As  this  was  scarcely  civil,  and  might  appear  like 
rudeness,  his  next  resolve  was  to  rush  into  the  open  air  and 
leave  the  hated  sounds  behind  him.  But  this,  too,  he  feared 
to  do  lest  offence  might  be  given,  and  so  he  resolved  to  en- 
dure the  torture  with  the  best  patience  he  could  assume,  when 
lo!  he  distinguished  amid  the  din  the  soft,  clear  voice  of  a  wo- 
man singing  in  perfect  tune.  She  made  no  effort  to  drown  the 
voices  of  her  companions,  neither  was  she  disturbed  by  their 
noisy  discord;  but  patiently  and  sweetly  she  sang  in  full,  rich 
tones.  One  after  another  yielded  to  the  gentle  influence,  and 
before  the  tune  was  finished  all  were  in  perfect  harmony.  I 
have  often  thought  of  this  story,"  adds  the  writer,  "as  convey- 
ing an  instructive  lesson  for  reformers.  The  spirit  that  can 
thus  sing  patiently  and  sweetly  in  a  world  of  discord  must  in- 
deed be  of  the  strongest  as  well  as  the  gentlest  kind.  One 
scarce  can  hear  his  own  soft  voice  amid  the  braying  of  the  mul- 
titude, and  ever  and  anon  comes  the  temptation  to  sing  louder 
than  they  and  drown  the  voices  that  cannot  thus  be  forced 
into  perfect  tune.  But  this  were  a  pitiful  experiment;  the  me- 
lodious tones  cracked  into  shrillness  would  only  increase  the 
tumult.  Stronger,  and  more  frequently,  comes  the  temptation 
to  stop  singing  and  let  discord  do  its  own  wild  work.  But 
blessed  are  they  that  endure  to  the  end,  singing  patiently  and 
sweetly,  till  all  join  in  with  loving  acquiescence,  and  universal 
harmony  prevails,  without  forcing  into  submission  the  free  dis- 
cord of  a  single  voice.     This  is  the  hardest  and  the  heaviest 


CORRESPONDENCE.  151 

task  which  a  true  soul  has  to  perform  amid  the  clashing  ele- 
ments of  time.  But  once  done  perfectly  unto  the  end,  and 
that  voice,  so  clear  in  its  meekness,  is  heard  above  all  the  din 
of  a  tumultuous  world  ;  one  after  another  chimes  in  with  its  pa- 
tient sweetness,  and  through  infinite  discords  the  listening  soul 
can  perceive  that  the  great  tune  is  slowly  coming  into  har- 
mony." 

And  now  I  cannot  close  this  letter  without  again  thank- 
ing Mr.  Aaron  for  the  kind  instruction  so  often  and  faithfully 
given.  Often  has  my  heart  burned  within  me  when  listening 
to  his  glowing  and  fervent  pictures  of  the  goodness  and  love 
of  God  towards  his  fallen  creatures;  his  persuasive  invitations 
to  seek  a  Saviour;  and  his  many  incentives  to  lure  his  hearers 
to  lead  a  life  of  purity  and  virtue.  And  I  have  observed,  too, 
and  appreciated  his  efforts  to  adapt  his  language  to  the  com- 
prehension of  the  more  illiterate  portion  of  his  congregation, 
when  naturally  it  would  have  been  more  lofty.  Such  self- 
denial  could  not  have  been  practiced  by  some  public  speak- 
ers, I  was  going  to  add,  if  immortal  souls  were  the  price  of  the 
indulgence.  *  *  *  And  now,  sir,  I  think  it  quite  time  to 
close  this  long  epistle.  Methinks  I  see  a  smile  upon  your 
countenance  at  the  Quixotic  idea  of  writing  to  one  not  person- 
ally known,  the  more  especially  as  you  will  see  no  name  given. 
But  I  confess  I  have  not  the  courage  to  give  it,  though  I 
should  like  much  so  to  do.  I  beg  you  will  not  regard  it  as 
anonymous  communications  deservedly  are  regarded.  You 
know  there  are  exceptions  to  all  general  rules.  May  I  hope 
this  will  prove  one? 

And,  in  conclusion,  I  pray  that  the  God  of  all  goodness 
may  watch  over  you  and  strengthen  and  support  you  in  the 
hour  of  duty.  May  he  prove  to  you  a  shield  through  life  and 
a  sure  refuge  in  the  hour  of  death.  May  he  soften  your  trials, 
and  bless  you  in  all  your  relations  of  husband,  father,  and 
teacher.  And  O,  may  he  receive  you  and  yours  to  his  eternal 
rest.     Amen. 


1 82  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 


[Extracts  from  Letters.] 


Jenkintown,  Pa.,  July  12,  1886. 
During  the  first  of  Mr.  Aaron's  time  as  teacher  at  Nor- 
ristown — probably  for  a  few  years — he  taught  in  the  old  Acad- 
emy, before  building  his  own  residence  and  school-room,  which 
he  named  Treemount  Seminary.  While  teaching  in  the  Acad- 
emy he  received  the  attack  and  abuse — a  fearful  whipping  with 
a  raw-hide — of  which  I  am  about  to  speak.  He  had  numer- 
ous calls  to  deliver  temperance  lectures.  He  addressed  a 
meeting  at  Spring  Mill,  some  four  miles  below  Norristown, 
at  which  time  he  exposed  some  of  the  evils  and  crimes  result- 
ing from  the  liquor  business  at  the  Spring  Mill  hotel,  kept  by 
the  McClenaghan  brothers.  The  two  brothers  came  to  Nor- 
ristown some  days  after  with  the  purpose  of  taking  revenge  on 
Mr.  Aaron.  William  Frick  (now  Dr.  Frick,  of  Philadelphia) 
and  I  were  the  last  students  leaving  the  Academy.  As  we 
went  down  the  street  we  met  the  two  men,  who  inquired  if 
Mr.  Aaron  was  in  the  Academy.  We  answered  yes,  and  went 
on;  but  we  were  soon  attracted  by  the  noise  of  the  attack, 
heard  the  strokes  of  the  lashes,  and  returned  to  the  school- 
room just  in  time  to  see  the  conclusion  of  the  outrage.  Mr. 
Aaron  bore  it  so  complacently  that  the  fiend  who  used  the 
raw-hide  did  not  seem  to  have  satisfaction,  as  he  flourished 
his  weapon  in  a  threatening  manner.  (Poor  satisfaction  to 
whip  a  post.)  The  lashes  were  inflicted  on  the  face  and  neck 
and  on  the  back.  After  the  whipping  off  and  breaking  of  his 
spectacles,  he  protected  his  eyes,  I  believe,  with  his  hands. 
One  terrible  gash  on  the  lower  part  of  his  cheek  and  neck  bled 
very  profusely,  and  was  several  inches  long.  He  carried  the 
mark  while  he  lived.  His  back  was  severely  welted.  The 
villains,  fool-hardy,  gave  themselves  up,  and  were  bound  over 
to  court  for  trial.  They  were  found  to  be  armed  with  deadly 
weapons,  which  they  said  they  did  not  intend  to  use  unless  it 
should  be  necessary.  The  bully  said  he  understood  that  Mr. 
Aaron  was  an  athletic  man,  and  of  course  expected  he  would 
resist.     But  his  principle  of  non-resistance  sustained  him  won- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 83 

derfully;  or,  perhaps  better,  he  sustained  his  principles.  Here 
he  achieved  a  victory  and  they  defeat. 

The  trial  came  off  in  court  before  Judge  Burnside.  I  was 
first  witness.  A  very  able  and  eloquent  plea  was  made  by  Mr. 
Aaron's  lawyer,  David  Paul  Brown,  of  Philadelphia.  I  re- 
member Judge  Burnside  said  in  his  charge  that  he  was  not 
giving  his  own  decision,  or  it  would  have  been  the  utmost  ex- 
tent of  the  law,  for  it  was  the  most  aggravating  case  that  ever 
came  before  him ;  but  he  was  overruled  by  two  Associate 
Judges,  who  were  liquor  men — I  believe,  tavern  owners.  So 
the  penalty  was  thirty  days  imprisonment  and  $30  fine;  and  it 
was  said,  and  I  believe  true,  that  tavern-keepers  furnished  them 
all  they  wished  to  eat  or  drink. 

After  Mr.  Aaron's  recovery  very  enthusiastic  temperance 
meetings  were  held,  and  one  especially  enthusiastic  at  Spring 
Mill.  Distinguished  speakers  eloquently  defended  Mr.  Aaron 
and  the  cause  for  which  he  suffered.  Josiah  Phillips. 


Byberry,  Fifth-month  29,  1854. 

My  Dear  Friend — I  am  astonished  to  learn  that  thee  is 
charged  with  prevarication,  in  connection  with  the  long  past 
but  not  soon  to  be  forgotten  McClenaghan  case.  My  recol- 
lection of  the  lecture  and  of  the  testimony  on  the  trial  is  more 
distinct  than  of  most  matters  of  notoriety  or  public  interest 
occurring  before  or  since.  The  meeting  was  appointed  and 
got  up  by  myself,  held  in  my  woods,  and  I  was  present  at  the 
private  examination  of  a  large  number  of  witnesses  by  David 
Paul  Brown,  who  all,  like  myself,  did  not  understand  Samuel 
Aaron  as  having  any  personal  allusion  whatever,  either  to  the 
miserable  death  of  Reese  Harry  or  the  McClenaghans. 

The  lecture  was  a  remarkably  pleasant  and  good-tempered 
one.  Thy  nature  has  always  appeared  to  me  entirely  above 
evasion  or  prevarication.  I  know  no  man  more  entirely  can- 
did without  regard  to  consequences.  All  present  at  the  con- 
clusion of  that  trial  should  remember,  as  I  distinctly  do,  that 
when  Dr.  McClenaghan  stood  up  in  court,  after  his  conviction 
of  what  Judge  Burnside  called  "the  most  outrageous  assault 
upon  a  peaceable  and  unoffending  man  he  had  ever  known," 


184  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

to  make  his  whining  plea  in  abatement  of  sentence,  that  he 
"regretted  the  language  of  Mr.  Aaron  had  been  so  misrepre- 
sented to  him,"  as  the  testimony  of  witnesses  had  convinced 
him,  and  "believed  if  he  had  been  at  the  meeting  he  should 
have  taken  no  offence."  J.  R.  Bowman. 

To  Samuel  Aaron. 


Manayunk,  February  23,  1856. 

My  Dear  Brother — I  feel  constrained  to  send  you  this  lit- 
tle note,  that  if  possible  it  may,  with  the  interview  we  have 
had,  induce  you  to  come  forth  immediately  and  take  a  public 
stand  against  this  monstrous  evil,  spiritualism.  Your  praise  is 
in  the  country  as  the  champion  of  truth  and  liberty;  the  strong 
opponent  of  two  great  evils,  slavery  and  intemperance.  But, 
sir,  let  me  tell  you  that  neither  slavery  nor  intemperance  has 
made  such  a  wreck  in  the  world  of  mind,  and  drawn  so  many 
souls  to  everlasting  burnings  in  so  short  a  time,  as  spiritual- 
ism. I  look  upon  it  as  one  of  the  best  laid  schemes  of  the 
devil  to  destroy  mankind.  It  is  the  very  thing  to  delude  and 
destroy  the  simple  mind;  the  very  thing  that  suits  the  carnal 
heart;  the  very  thing  that  defiled  human  nature  has  been  long 
looking  for.  It  arose  "  like  a  man's  hand,"  but  it  is  now  brood- 
ing like  a  dark,  gathering  cloud  over  the  face  of  the  moral 
heavens.  I  have  serious  apprehensions  of  much  evil  being 
accomplished  by  this  fell  serpent  before  its  head  can  be  effect- 
ually crushed.  If  otherwise,  I  will  be  agreeably  disappointed. 
I  know  that  sooner  or  later  God  will  bruise  it,  but  God  gen- 
erally works  by  the  instrumentality  of  his  people. 

It  has  been  said  that  those  who  have  been  deluded  by  this 
filthy  thing  are  comparatively  worthless.  In  many  respects 
this  may  be  true.  But,  oh  !  why  talk  so?  Have  they  not  im- 
mortal souls  capable  of  being  made  either  happy  or  wretched 
throughout  a  never  ending  duration?  And  is  it  not  the  duty 
of  every  Christian  man  and  minister  to  stand  forth  to  oppose 
and  expose  those  wicked  delusions  by  which  the  souls  of  their 
fellow-mortals  are  ruined?  Did  a  public  abettor  of  slavery  or 
intemperance  enter  your  town,  I  am  sure,  sir,  you  would  be 
with  the  first  to  lift  up  a  standard  against  him.     And  is  it  not 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 85 

evident  that  the  advocates  of  a  system  equally  as  formidable 
to  the  truth  and  ruinous  to  the  souls  of  men  have  gone  in 
among  you?  Are  the  watchmen  on  the  walls  of  Zion  to  look 
down  on  such  a  foe  as  he  does  his  work  of  death,  and  be 
silent?  The  Lord  hath  delivered  unto  you  the  weapons  of  a 
glorious  warfare;  and  not  only  so,  but  endowed  you  with  the 
power  to  wield  those  weapons.  And  now  the  giant  has  step- 
ped up  to  your  door.  Arise,  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  smite 
him.  "Stop  his  mouth,"  and  "rebuke  him  sharply."  Hear 
the  claims  and  the  teachings  of  this  infernal  delusion,  and  the 
blasphemy  of  its  victims,  and  you  will  be  persuaded  that  it  re- 
quires but  little  or  no  investigation  to  be  denounced. 

I  am  sorry  to  find  that  this  wicked  thing  has  made  such 
inroads  in  Norristown.  But  I  do  sincerely  hope  that  you  will 
take  a  decided  stand  (before  the  public)  against  it.  I  know 
you  are  fully  able  to  oppose  it,  and  that  your  expositions,  ad- 
monitions, etc.,  would  have  a  good  effect  on  the  community 
of  Norristown,  that  this  woful  thing  might  soon  come  to  its 
end  and  have  none  to  help  it. 

Dear  sir,  I  have  written  to  urge  you  to  assail  this  "wild- 
ism."  In  this  it  may  be  I  have  taken  too  much  liberty;  but  I 
wish  you  to  remember  I  have  written  as  a  brother  whose  heart 
gushes  forth  for  your  welfare  and  the  welfare  of  mankind.  So 
please  excuse  this  liberty,  despise  not  my  youth,  and  believe 
me  when  I  say  my  motive  is  to  establish  the  blessed  gospel 
and  overthrow  the  kingdom  of  darkness  in  the  earth. 

I  am,  sir,  yours  in  the  bonds  of  a  holy  Christianity, 

To  Samuel  Aaron.  W.  F . 


April  26,  1862. 

Dear  Sir — At  my  request  Judge  B wrote  to  you  the 

within  challenge.  I  have  been  some  months  investigating 
spiritualism,  and  have  continually  found  mediums  or  spiritual 
speakers  advancing  arguments  destructive  of  old  views  of  the- 
ology. Failing  successfully  to  meet  them,  I  am  anxious  to 
hear  those  better  versed  than  myself  pitched  in  public  or  pri- 
vate combat  against  the  persons  who  are  with  no  small  in- 


I  86  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

fluence  spreading  doctrines  which  according  to  Christian  be- 
lief are  dangerous  to  be  propagated  in  any  community.  I  in- 
tended to  have  seen  you  to-day,  and  had  a  conversation  upon 
the  subject;  but  business  preventing,  I  send  you  this  through 
mail,  hoping  to  receive  an  answer  at  your  earliest  convenience. 

Yours  most  truly,  

To  Samuel  Aaron. 


Mount  Holly,  April  28,  1862. 
Dear  Sir — I  have  just  received  yours  of  the  26th  instant, 

enclosing  Mr.  B 's,  and  noted  the  contents  of  both.     To 

enter  into  the  controversy  proposed  is  entirely  incompatible 
with  my  taste,  my  engagements  and  my  sense  of  duty. 

1.  My  taste  forbids  me  to  engage  in  a  mere  bootless 
public  or  private  wrangle  with  witches,  wizards,  jugglers  or 
necromancers,  as  it  would  seem  like  casting  pearls  before 
swine.  Even  if  that  amiable,  honest  trickster,  Signor  Blitz, 
should  challenge  a  preacher  to  explain  his  tricks,  good  taste, 
I  think,  would  decline  the  ordeal. 

2.  My  time  is  so  engaged  in  reading,  teaching,  preach- 
ing, and  seeing  the  sick,  that  I  have  not  fifty  or  one  hundred 
hours  to  spare  in  hunting  to  their  holes  all  the  itinerant  foxes, 
male  and  female,  that  are  carrying  firebrands  through  the  land. 

3.  If  the  Bible  is  true,  this  spiritism  is  a  lie.  The  truth 
of  the  Bible  is  not  a  question  with  me  nor  with  any  other  sane 
man  who  has  devoutly  studied  it.  Spiritism,  like  the  devil, 
contradicts  the  Bible,  and  mocks  and  blasphemes  both  it  and 
its  author.  I  believe  that  spiritism  has  skill  and  power.  It 
has  the  skill  to  lie  with  cunning  art,  skill  to  juggle,  and  the 
power  of  fiends  to  help  it  out.  The  demons  that  Christ  sent 
into  the  swine  gave  proofs  of  greater  strength  and  activity 
than  what  has  yet  appeared  in  this  modern  demonology.  A 
sense  of  duty  would  permit  me  to  debate  with  a  serious  and 
candid  skeptic  who  consulted  only  his  reason  and  pretended 
to  nothing  supernatural,  but  I  can  hold  no  parley  with  those 
who  summon  the  spiritual  world  to  mock  and  blaspheme  its 
author.  • 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 87 

4.  The  tendency  of  this  spiritism  is  too  loose  all  the 
bonds  of  moral  obligation  and  to  give  the  rein  to  all  lawless 
appetites  and  lusts.  Therefore,  conscience  bids  me  condemn 
and  denounce  it  as  occasion  demands,  but  to  hold  no  inter- 
course or  fellowship  with  such  an  "unfruitful  work  of  dark- 
ness." You  have  spent  months  in  investigating  spiritism.  I 
have  spent  years  in  investigating  Christianity.  I  am  settled, 
satisfied,  happy.  You  appear  to  be  undecided,  and  want  man 
to  do  for  you  by  argument  what  God  alone  can  do  by  grace. 
Christ  is  proposed  as  the  object  of  our  loving  faith.  God  is 
"well  pleased  in  Him,"  and  only  asks  man  to  be  so,  too,  as 
the  passport  to  a  holy  heaven. 

The  terms  are  easy,  and  they  have  never  failed  the  soul 
that  has  accepted  them.     Try  them,  and  may  God  help  you. 

Your  sincere  friend, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


Mount  Holly,  August  4,  1 863. 

Dear  Brother — I  have  not  had  time  to  make  an  earlier 
reply  to  yours  of  the  1 2th  ult.  Be  assured,  I  entreat  you,  that 
my  good  will  toward  you  is  not  diminished  nor  can  be  by  the 
unfortunate  difference  of  opinion  between  us,  which  your  let- 
ter seems  to  imply.  If  it  were  possible,  even,  for  you  to  de- 
cline, not  only  from  what  I  deem  a  correct  religious  faith,  but 
also  from  a  pure,  moral  life,  it  would  still  be  my  duty,  as,  I 
trust,  it  would  be  my  choice,  to  pray  for  you,  to  advise  you, 
and  to  love  you.  Your  letter  is  amiable  and  christianlike  in 
its  language,  and  doubtless  is  an  honest  transcript  of  your 
heart,  but  to  my  mind  it  manifests  not  one  single  ray  of  that 
"reason,"  to  which  it  lays  so  strong  a  claim.  Observe,  I  do 
not  say  but  that  you  have  reasons  for  your  change  of  faith, 
but  only  that  you  show  none  to  me.  If  you  have  good  rea- 
sons, they  are  as  good  for  me  as  for  you  (for  I,  too,  am  a  man), 
and  I  need  as  much  as  you  to  know  them,  to  adopt  them,  and 
to  secure  their  blessing. 

The  reasoning  faculty  enables  us  to  examine  evidence, 
and  was  manifestly  given  to  be  thus  employed.     The  Bible, 


1 88  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

composed  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  assumes  to  inform 
mankind  how  they  may  acceptably  worship  and  serve  Al- 
mighty God,  live  a  right  life  here,  and  secure  everlasting  pur- 
ity and  happiness  hereafter.  Is  there  anything  in  your  "self- 
reliant  nature"  which  is  authorized  to  pronounce  any  of  its 
requirements  to  be  "useless,  outward  ordinances?"  Is  there 
anything  in  "self-reliant  nature"  or  "reason"  either,  which 
can  take  "one  single  step"  with  absolute  certainty  in  the  right 
direction  as  to  moral  conduct,  and  as  to  the  fact  of  a  future 
and  eternal  existence,  without  instruction  from  the  Scriptures? 
Do  you  answer,  Conscience?  Conscience  bids  the  South  Sea 
Islanders  to  kill  and  eat  their  neighbors,  and,  therefore,  is  not 
a  certain  guide.  It  teaches  millions  of  Americans  to  support 
and  other  millions  to  condemn  slavery,  and  thus  contradicts 
itself.  Do  you  say,  Reason?  Reason  has  made  millions  of 
Greeks  (the  acutest  people  that  ever  lived),  Epicureans,  or 
pleasure  lovers,  votaries  of  every  brute  appetite;  other  mil- 
lions, stoics,  or  pain  lovers,  glorifying  pain  as  the  chief  good; 
others  again  materialists,  denying  all  spiritual  existence;  and 
others  immaterialists,  denying  the  existence  of  matter.  Re- 
member these  people  were  the  masters  of  reason,  hitherto  un- 
equalled, at  least  unsurpassed,  among   men. 

What  then  of  this  humbug  of  "self-reliance,"  or  "reason," 
or  even  "conscience?"  And  how  did  you  find  out  that  the 
"teachings  delivered  by  a  messenger  from  heaven  inculcated 
by  all  Christendom,"  and  which  you  still  "  reverence  as  holy 
teachings,"  are  merely  "of  the  past,"  and  "have  fulfilled  their 
destiny  as  far  as  they  were  intended  for  yourself?"  Such  vast 
knowledge  as  this  on  your  part  requires  a  revelation  from 
heaven,  contradicting  a  former  revelation  from  the  same  source. 
And  when  heaven  contradicts  itself,  what  shall  a  man  believe? 
As  to  your  hypothesis  that  some  "principles"  (I  suppose  you 
mean  moral  and  religious  principles)  are  safe  for  me,  and  other 
different  principles  safe  for  you,  the  proposition  is  absurd,  un- 
less you  first  show  that  you  and  I  are  beings  of  different  na- 
tures, under  different  obligations,  or  that  there  are  two  equally 
powerful  Gods,  who  are  pledged  to  each  other  to  remain  at 
peace.     In  fact  your  supposition  is  infinitely  more  absurd,  as 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 89 

it  supposes  a  different  God  for  every  different  man,  or  else  a 
Divine  Almighty  Being  who  has  no  uniform  rule  of  action. 

You  use  the  phrase,  in  reference  to  yourself,  "deluded 
enthusiast."  The  phrase  is  absurd,  as  it  means  "enthusiastic 
enthusiast";  like  saying  "wet  water."  I  therefore  do  not  ap- 
ply it  to  you.  But  in  all  sincerity  and  affection,  I  believe  you 
to  be  a  deluded  man,  as  the  tenor  of  your  letter  and  of  my 
reply  most  amply  prove.  And  I  infer  from  your  letter  and 
from  remarks  of  our  mutual  friends  that  you  have  been  de- 
luded by  attending  on  the  teachings  of  "spiritism,"  that  shal- 
lowest and  vilest  of  modern  impostures.  I  am  satisfied  that 
it  is  indeed  a  dealing,  as  the  Bible  says,  with  "  unclean  spirits," 
for  its  legitimate  tendency  has  been  to  promote  immorality 
and  contempt  for  all  truth  in  testimony.  The  "spirits"  con- 
tradict one  another,  and  therefore  lie,  disparage  divine  revela- 
tion, and  therefore  blaspheme  God,  and  in  a  word  present  the 
boldest  public  display  of  rogues  on  pretended  supernatural 
authority  that  Christendom  has  ever  seen.  These  harsh  con- 
clusions are  derived  partly  from  the  confessions  and  recanta- 
tions of  some  of  the  most  eminent  professors  of  its  revelations, 
and  partly  from  the  unchanged  lives  of  vile  men  and  women 
who  remain  eminent  among  its  votaries. 

Reason  has  no  power  apart  from  evidence.  On  that  it 
can  act  and  on  nothing  else.  Those  vast  intellects  among  the 
Greeks,  etc.,  above  referred  to,  had  facts  in  nature,  mathe- 
matics and  rhetoric,  and  reasoned  safely  and  profoundly;  on 
spiritual  and  divine  principles,  having  no  revelation  from  God, 
even  their  reason  was  impotent.  Bacon,  Newton,  Locke, 
Butler,  Saurin,  Cuvier,  Chalmers,  Edwards,  and  many  others 
of  similar  powers,  examined  the  authority  of  Scripture  as  a 
revelation  from  the  Most  High,  by  applying  reverently  the 
mighty  energies  of  their  reason  to  the  light  of  testimony,  in- 
trinsic and  extrinsic,  and  reached  the  same  conclusion,  viz.: 
"That  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  name  given  under  heaven  and 
among  men  whereby  we  can  be  saved." 

That  a  set  of  flippant  blasphemers  should  be  able  to  turn 
a  soul  as  candid  and  as  strong  as  yours  away  from  your  duties 
towards  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  from  your  interest  in  his 
redeeming  blood,  and  set  you  to  talking  about  "  my  followers," 


I90  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

is  indeed  as  gall  and  wormwood  to  every  feeling  of  my  heart. 
And  again,  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  mean  to  set  up  the 
powers  of  your  own  "reason"  in  opposition  to  that  of  the 
men  named  above,  and  that  too  without  examining  the  case 
as  thoroughly  as  they  did,  and  so  on  the  spur  of  impulse  fix 
on  conclusions  involving  your  eternal  destiny,  I  declare  that 
such  conduct  appears  to  me  the  most  unreasonable  as  well  as 
the  most  perilous  within  the  limits  of  the  human  will. 

I  shall  always  think  of  you  with  amazement  and  with 
sorrow,  and  pray  for  your  recovery  till  I  learn  that  you  walk 
in  the  revealed  commandments  of  the  Lord. 
Very  truly  your  friend, 

Samuel  Aaron. 


United  States  Consulate, 
Cardiff,  England,  April  16,  1862. 

My  Dear  Friend — I  can  hardly  tell  you  how  sad  and 
vexed  I  have  felt  within  the  past  week  to  see  by  our  papers 
that  Wendell  Phillips  had  been  disturbed  while  lecturing  in 
Cincinnati,  and  that  you  had  met  with  some  opposition  at  Bur- 
lington, N.  J.  This  makes  me  feel  more  disheartened  than 
anything  else.  I  fear  not  the  powder,  the  bullets,  the  guns, 
the  Merrimacs  of  the  traitors,  one-tenth  part  as  much  as  I  do. 
a  corrupt  and  consequently  a  divided  public  sentiment  of  the 
North.  If  all  our  people  felt  in  their  own  hearts  the  iniquity 
of  slavery ;  if  they  felt  that  they  had  sinned  and  done  wickedly 
in  the  sight  of  God  and  man  for  the  past  half  century  for  apol- 
ogizing for  slavery  and  sustaining  it,  then  I  should  have  no 
fears  for  the  traitors,  however  great  their  number  or  formida- 
ble their  power.  "If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us?" 
But  what  I  fear  is  that  the  virus,  the  poison  of  slavery,  has  so 
infused  itself  into  our  very  veins  and  bones  and  marrow  that 
we  are  hopelessly  corrupt;  that  there  will  be  more  vile  and 
unprincipled  "compromises"  made  with  the  slaveholding 
power  to  bring  them  into  the  Union.  God  grant  that  I  may 
not  be  right  in  my  fears. 

You  will  be  glad  to  learn  that  since  I  have  been  here  my 
health  has  improved  very  much.     My  thirty-four  years  of  con- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  I  9  I 

stant  teaching  from  the  time  I  •  left  college  had  completely 
broken  me  down,  and  I  required  an  entire  change.  The  cli- 
mate here  is  remarkably  mild  for  its  high  latitude.  I  have  not 
been  obliged  to  wear  ap  overcoat  to  my  office  six  times  the 
whole  winter.  I  have  seen  nothing  that  deserved  to  be  called 
ice  or  snow ;  once  a  little  sprinkling  of  snow,  that  did  not  cover 
the  ground. 

My  duties  are  generally  very  pleasant  and  not  laborious, 
though  this  is,  I  think,  the  third  Consulate  in  Great  Britain. 
I  cannot  help,  now'  and  then,  thinking  of  the  time  when  I 
must  return  home,  and  where  I  shall  go.  My  family  say  I 
shall  never  teach  again,  and  I  want  to  get  some  small  place, 
in  a  good  country  town,  of  from  two  to  six  acres.  I  shall  not 
wish  to  be  at  a  great  distance  from  Philadelphia,  for  what  lit- 
tle material  interests  I  have  are  there.  May  I  ask  a  few  ques- 
tions about  Mount  Holly?  Is  it  an  expensive  place  of  living? 
Is  there  good  society  there?  How  high  does  the  anti-slavery 
thermometer  range, — at  320,  temperate,  560,  or  blood  heat? 
Have  you  any  good  public  libraries?  I  know  it  is  looking 
rather  far  ahead;  but  it  will  do  no  harm,  if  we  are  not  "anx- 
ious about  the  things  of  to-morrow." 

Most  truly  and  cordially  yours, 

Charles  D.  Cleveland. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


July  20,  1862. 
Dear  Sir — I  was  glad  to  see  (for  the  first  time)  the  writ- 
ing of  one  whom  though  personally  unknown  to  me  I  felt  so 
intimate  with  from  the  report  of  those  we  both  love.  It  would 
give  me  real  pleasure  to  oblige  you  in  any  way.  At  present  I 
am  not  able  to  leave  home,  and  whether  I  shall  be  able  to  do 
so  next  winter  I  cannot  now  say.  All  that  I  can  promise  is 
that  I  will  try  to  plan  so  as  to  accommodate  you.  If  ycu 
should  hear  of  my  being  engaged  to  speak  in  your  neighbor- 
hood please  write  and  remind  me,  and  I  will  do  all  I  can. 
Truly  yours,  Wendell  Phillips. 

Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


I92  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Camp ,  January  19,  1864. 

My  Christian  Friend  and  Brother — This  is  a  dismal,  rainy 
morning,  and  I  thought  I  could  spend  a  few  moments  with 
pleasure  in  penciling  a  few  lines  to  a  friend  I  hold  most  dear. 
I  have  sufficient  reason  for  loving  you:  for  the  good  I  have 
received  from  you,  in  the  Christian  instruction  you  have  im- 
parted unto  me,  the  kindness  I  have  received,  and,  best  of  all, 
your  daily  walk  and  conversation.  You  have  erected  the 
Christian  standard  so  high  that  your  image  is  so  indelibly 
stamped  upon  my  heart  that  eternity  can  never  obliterate  it. 
The  teaching  I  have  received  from  you  has  led  me  nearer  to 
the  loving  Saviour.  I  fear  I  shall  very  much  miss  you  when 
I  cannot  hear  your  voice.  But,  thanks  be  unto  God,  I  have 
"a  friend  who  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother,"  and  I  will  put 
my  trust  in  him,  in  the  camp,  upon  the  battle-field,  and  in  the 
hour  of  death. 

A  soldier's  life  is  a  hard  one  for  a  Christian.  I  have  found 
but  a  very  few  who  love  the  Saviour.  A  few  of  Christ's  dis- 
ciples met  on  last  Sabbath  and  had  a  very  good  season  of  ex- 
hortation and  prayer.  It  grieves  me  to  hear  the  curses,  the 
wicked  songs  and  jests,  the  foolish  talk,  and,  worse  than  all, 
the  making  fun  of  Christ  and  his  religion. 

It  is  most  astonishing  to  me  to  see  so  many  drink  rum 
and  lager  beer.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  card-playing  going 
on  around  me.  A  young  man  who  slept  with  me,  from  the 
"pines,"  spent  on  Sabbath  day  nine  dollars;  another  said  he 
spent  four  hundred  in  a  few  days.  One  man  lost  the  night 
before  ninety-four  dollars;  still  another,  one  hundred  and  ten; 
and  I  cannot  enumerate  the  cases. 

I  have  learned  that  we  will  not  leave  h*ere  until  the  old 
regiment  comes  back.  I  would  be  pleased  to  receive  any  word 
from  you.     Give  my  respects  to  Mrs.  Aaron  and  family. 

Yours  affectionately,  L S 

Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 93 

Washington,  D.  C,  June  2,  1864. 

Dear  Sir — Mr.  Charles  S.  Bates  has  called  upon  me  with 
the  request  that  you  should  be  invited  to  preach  in  the  Hall 
of  Representatives  some  Sunday  during  the  present  session  of 
Congress.  I  requested  him  at  once  to  write  to  you,  and  in 
my  name  to  extend  to  you  a  general  invitation  without  assign- 
ing a  day.  I  now  write  to  say  that  it  will  give  me  great  plea- 
sure to  place  the  Hall  of  Representatives  at  the  service  of  one 
so  distinguished  for  earnest  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  freedom 
on  the  second  or  third  Sunday  in  June.  There  is  some  hope 
and  expectation  that  the  highly  honored  Dr.  R.  J.  Breckin- 
ridge, of  Kentucky,  may  be  able  to  stop  and  preach  here  on 
the  Sunday  after  next,  when  returning  from  the  Baltimore 
convention.  But  if  he  cannot  come  I  trust  that  you  will  be 
free  to  accept  my  invitation.  Will  you  then  have  the  kind- 
ness to  make  your  arrangements  contingently  for  the  12th  or 
19th  of  June,  so  as  to  ensure  your  being  able  to  visit  Wash- 
ington on  one  of  those  Sundays. 

As  an  additional  motive  for  your  coming,  I  would  state 
that  no  Baptist  minister  has  thus  far  preached  in  the  Hall  this 
season,  and  it  is  desirable  to  have  each  leading  denomination 
represented  there  in  the  people's  church.  Hoping  to  receive 
a  favorable  answer  by  an  early  mail,  I  remain, 
Very  respectfully  yours, 

William  Henry  Channing, 
Chaplain  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


Mount  Holly,  N.  J.,  June  4,  1864. 
My  Dear  Friend — Your  favor  of  a  day  or  two  ago  was  fol- 
lowed by  one  from  Dr.  Channing,  dated  June  2,  1864,  both  in- 
viting me  to  preach  in  the  Hall  of  Representatives.  This  is 
indeed  a  most  unexpected  distinction,  and  the  acceptance  of  it 
has  cost  me  a  mental  struggle  which  I  need  not  describe.  I 
have,  however,  concluded,  if  God  please,  to  make  the  experi- 
ment on  the  19th  inst,  if  that  day  will  suit.     Dr.  C.  writes  that 


194  REV-  SAMUEL   AARON. 

Dr.  R.  J.  Breckinridge  may  or  may  not  occupy  the  12th,  and, 
as  I  understand  him,  leaves  the  12th  contingently  between  Dr. 
B.  and  myself,  but  leaves  the  19th  positively  open  to  me.  Please, 
therefore,  my  dear  friend,  to  inform  me  certainly  whether  I  can 
have  that  day  or  the  26th,  if  Congress  sit  till  then.  About  the 
26th  our  school  will  close. 

I  am  ashamed  of  not  writing  to  you,  but  truly  grateful  for 
your  kind  promptness  in  scouring  the  friendly  chain;  and  be 
assured  it  is  not  tarnished.  I  really  have  not  time  to  write  as 
I  ought.  You  have  never  happened  to  say  whether  you  saw 
Dr.  Elder.  A  response  from  Dr.  Solger  implied  that  you 
handed  E.  my  letter. 

Your  views  of  men  and  policies  accord  with  my  own,  but 
I  have  been  very  careful  to  keep  them  in  my  own  breast;  at 
least  such  as  the  unfriendly  could  use  to  your  disadvantage. 
I  should  be  glad  to  know  the  drift  of  any  powerful  under- 
current before  I  come  to  Washington,  that  I  may  expose  it, 
or  warn  against  it,  as  I  shall  speak  very  boldly,  though  not 
abusively,  of  men,  measures  and  theories. 

Fremont  is  nominated.  What  then?  Our  conservatives 
here  are  alarmed  and  offended.  I  tell  them  to  take  it  patiently 
and  thankfully ;  the  people  as  well  as  the  politicasters  have  a 
right  to  declare  their  preference,  and  it  has  long  been  needed 
that  those  who  pay  and  earn  the  public  expenditures  should 
dictate  who  should  use  and  disburse  them.  Fremont's  pro- 
gressive platform  and  vast  popularity  will  compel  the  adoption 
of  an  advanced  position  at  Baltimore,  and  convince  Mr.  L. 
that  "Kentucky  pets"  are  not  much  longer  to  be  the  Jugger- 
naut of  this  great  Republic.  I  suppose  Mr.  L.  will  be  nomi- 
nated at  Baltimore,  and  unless  utter  madness  and  stupidity, 
even  the  Weed-iest,  rule  the  hour,  I  think  that  a  platform 
richer  in  promise  at  least  than  even  that  of  1856  will  ask  the 
support  of  the  people.  If  they  give  us  one  as  good  as  that  of 
Cleveland,  I  will  for  unity's  sake  support  it;  if  they  falter,  I 
will  vote  for  Fremont,  as  I  think  him  brave  and  true.  Grant, 
so  far  as  we  know  here,  is  doing  grandly,  and  Lee  seems  over- 
matched.    Write  soon. 

Yours  truly,  Samuel  Aaron. 

Mr.  Charles  S.  Bates. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  195 

Mount  Holly,  June  io,  1864. 

My  Dear  Friend — I  wrote  to  you  a  week  ago,  enclosing 
a  reply  to  a  letter  from  Dr.  Channing  promising  to  come  to 
Washington  and  preach  on  the  19th  or  26th  inst,  if  either  of 
those  days  would  suit.  Your  note,  delayed  on  the  way,  in- 
forms me  that  mine  has  not  been  received,  and  meanwhile  I 
have  concluded  that  as  the  session  has  so  nearly  closed,  and 
adjournment  may  take  place  in  a  week  or  less,  I  will  request 
that  my  coming  shall  be  postponed  till  December  next,  when, 
if  permitted,  I  will  comply  with  the  invitation  if  Dr.  Channing 
and  you  think  proper  to  continue  it.  I  am  truly  grateful  for 
the  good  opinion  of  both  of  you,  and  that  you  have  both  de- 
sired for  me  the  opportunity  of  giving  so  eminent  publicity  to 
views  so  long  and  so  honestly  entertained;  but  my  ambition 
of  notoriety  has  nearly  passed  away.  Still  I  will,  more  to 
please  you  than  myself,  cheerfully  tell  Congress  what  I  think 
on  public  affairs,  next  session. 

My  mind  is  not  clear  as  to  what  I  shall  do  in  the  coming 
Presidential  election.  Both  platforms  ignore  the  franchise  of 
the  negro,  and  I  firmly  believe  that  we  can  neither  deserve  nor 
possess  true  and  permanent  prosperity  till  we  render  equal 
and  impartial  justice  to  all  honest  men.  On  the  whole,  I 
know  not  what  to  do  yet;  if  Grant  is  repulsed,  Lincoln  will  be 
disgraced  and  forsaken,  and  Fremont  will  probably  become 
the  nation's  hope  whether  nominated  by  the  Democrats  or 
not.  If  in  the  divisions  likely  to  occur  the  Copperheads  get 
the  reins,  then  look  out  for  national  dishonor  and  destruction, 
for  the  triumph  of  blackguardism  such  as  the  city  of  New  York 
has  maintained  and  exhibited  for  some  years  past.  I  firmly 
believe  that  a  civil  and  social  war  would  ensue  if  Christians 
and  moralists  did  not  conclude  to  yield  to  extermination,  in 
which  men  of  the  nerve  of  Fremont  would  have  to  rally  the 
true-hearted  and  fight  even  the  forms  of  government  for  the 
realities  of  civil  and  religious  rights.  A  dark  day  is  approach- 
ing if  Copperheads  are  to  rule, — dark  as  that  foreshadowed  by 
the  good  Quaker's  vision.  But  I  feel  sad  to-day;  let  us  all 
be  cheerful  and  trust  in  God. 

Your  friend  as  ever,  Samuel  Aaron. 

Mr.  Charles  S.  Bates. 


I96  REV.   SAMUEL    AARON. 

Mount  Holly,  June  16,  1864. 

My  Dear  Friend — My  coming  must  be  deferred  till  De- 
cember. Your  last  note  fails  to  say  what  date  was  fixed  for 
my  visit.  I  left  to  Dr.  Charming  the  choice  of  the  it)th  or 
26th  inst.,and  much  correspondence  would  be  needed  to  reach 
a  right  understanding.  But  this  is  not  the  cause  of  my  declin- 
ing to  come.  The  uncertainty  before,  and  the  need,  if  I  came 
in  June,  of  making  a  disjointed  harangue,  deterred  me.  Every 
moment  of  my  time  is  used  up  by  daily  teaching  and  frequent 
attempts  to  preach. 

I  see  your  children  frequently;  the  two  little  girls  spent 
the  afternoon  of  Monday  last  with  my  little  grand-daughter, 
and  had  a  jovial  time. 

I  have  not  a  moment  more,  and  remain 

Truly  your  friend,  Samuel  Aaron. 

Mr.  Charles  S.  Bates. 


Mount  Holly,  December  19,  1864. 

My  Dear  Friend — Your  letter  was  received,  and  I  attended 
to  the  business  matter  you  wrote  about.  I  have  not  made  a 
special  visit  to  your  children  for  some  time,  but  see  some  of 
them  every  few  days  and  know  of  their  welfare. 

Mount  Holly  is  in  statu  quo,  so  that  I  can  think  of  nothing 
worth  telling  you.  My  discourse  on  the  evening  of  Thanks- 
giving day  pleased  many  loyal  people  well,  but  gave  great, 
almost  unpardonable,  offence  to  a  few  skin-deep  Democrats, 
some  of  whom  thought  of  having  me  cashiered  from  the  pul- 
pit. My  reply  to  them  was  that  I  could  not  help  thanking  a 
good  God  for  the  overthrow  of  rebellion  in  the  South  and 
murderous  treason  in  the  North;  that  on  all  subjects  within 
the  scope' of  moral  and  religious  instruction  I  should  say  just 
what  Scripture  and  my  own  conscience  dictated;  that  mean, 
ungodly  factions  in  churches  often  made  out  to  drive  off  hon- 
est preachers,  and  so  control  the  churches  and  corrupt  both 
them  and  the  ministry,  making  cowards  of  the  one  and  hypo- 
crites of  the  other;  and  that  I  had  determined  to  stand  by  the 
upright  and  progressive  part  of  the  church,  and  let  the  others 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 97 

leave  or  be  excluded,  as  the  case  required.  This  position 
seems  to  have  calmed  the  surface;  but  the  dregs  of  hate  and 
prejudice  lie  deep. 

I  am  sorry  that  my  friend has  been  imposed  upon 

by  sharpers.  I  see  nothing  immoral  in  his  risk.  But  is  it  not 
better  for  those  who  take  a  high  moral  stand  to  have  almost 
nothing  at  all  to  do  with  men  of  reputation  in  the  slightest 
degree  uncertain?  Perhaps  he  did  not  know  .they  were  "dis- 
loyal" when  he 'trusted  them,  though  I  understood  he  found 
them  so.  We  are  compelled  in  the  daily  current  of  affairs  to 
float  alongside  of  the  base,  but  we  ought  never  to  trust  our- 
selves  in  their  hands  nor  touch  them  except  to  do  them  good. 
I  do  not  censure  a  want  of  principle  in ,  but  of  prudence. 

The  President  has  taken  a  manly  stand  in  his  late  mes- 
sage, and  I  am  especially  pleased  by  his  nomination  of  Mr. 
Chase  to  the  office  of  supreme  expounder  of  the  Constitution 
and  the  laws.  Chase  has  been  weighed  in  the  balances  for 
twenty-five  years  by  many  hands,  and  never  found  wanting. 
No  other  man  capable,  except  Sumner,  has  been  so  thoroughly 
proved,  nor  he  for  so  long  a  time.  I  would  have  preferred  Sum- 
ner, because  he  is  ten  years  younger,  a  greater  legal  scholar, 
and  equally  a  friend  of  universal  justice  and  humanity.  But; 
thank  God,  one  of  the  noblest  men  on  earth  has  now  the  highest 
seat  for  life  among  the  judges  and  expositors  of  human  law. 

I  see  that  Ashley,  of  Ohio,  has  the  floor  whenever  he 
chooses  to  call  up  the  question  of  advising  the  states  to  amend 
the  Constitution  so  as  to  prohibit  slavery  forever.  I  wish  you 
would  ascertain  and  inform  me  whether  petitioning  would  do 
any  good,  as  I  have  a  petition  here  but  have  thought  its  cir- 
culation needless. 

Chandler,  I  believe,  is  proposing  to  prepare  and  present  a 
bill  to  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  demanding  indemnity 
for  the  three  or  four  hundred  millions'  worth  of  property  de- 
stroyed by  vessels  built  and  manned  by  British  hands;  and 
perhaps  for  further  damages  to  our  commerce  by  the  prevent- 
ing of  thousands  of  our  ships  from  venturing  to  sea.  It  strikes 
me  as  the  profoundest  stupidity  among  the  acts  of  nations  that 
Great  Britain  should  permit  these,  and  like  insults  and  wrongs, 
to  be  perpetrated  by  her  people  against  a  nation  so  mighty 


I98  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

and  so  chivalrous  as  ours.  It  will  be  easy  to  show  that  our 
people  are  $1,000,000,000  poorer  on  account  of  the  wanton  in- 
termeddling of  British  avarice  and  pride  in  the  current  of  our 
civil  war;  and  I  shall  not  wonder  if  sooner  or  later  her  people 
compel  the  government  to  pay  us  half  that  sum  rather  than 
go  to  war  with  us  and  lose  Ireland,  most  of  her  colonies,  and 
all  her  navy  and  commerce.  She  will  reflect,  probably,  that 
we  have  a  compact  territory  forty  times  her  island  in  extent 
and  one  hundred  times  at  least  as  rich  in  natural  resources — 
perhaps  five  hundred  times — with  a  people  equal  in  number, 
incomparably  more  enterprising  and  intelligent,  and  many  of 
them,  alas!  hating  her  most  heartily  not  without  cause.  Brit- 
ain seems  mad  to  her  own  ruin,  and  false  to  her  boasted  love 
of  human  rights. 

The  prospect  of  victory,  even  of  the  extermination  of  the 
rebel  armies,  looks  brighter  now  than  ever  before.  We  were 
alarmed  by  the  successful  audacity  of  Hood,  whose  every 
stroke  was  exaggerated  by  rebel  falsehood  and  our  own  fears; 
but  now  it  appears  that  Grant,  Sherman  and  Thomas  under- 
stood the  force  of  his  temerity,  and  lured  him  to  ruin.  The 
march  of  Sherman  for  three  hundred  miles  through  the  best, 
the  very  garden  of  the  rebellious  country,  not  only  unimpeded, 
but  strengthened  and  enriched  as  he  proceeded,  is  among  the 
military  wonders  of  the  age,  and  confirms  the  soundness  of 
the  views  of  himself  and  Fremont  at  the  beginning,  who  both 
advised  to  pierce  the  very  heart  of  the  rebellion  with  an  ade- 
quate force.  For  such  advice  Sherman  was  ignored  as  a  mad- 
man by  "  Little  Mac,"  and  sent  to  command  an  obscure  fort- 
ress I  know  not  where;  and  Fremont  ostracised  by  the  Blair- 
Wced  dynasty.  I  begin  now  to  think  that  Fremont  ought  to 
have  pursued  the  policy  of  Butler  and  Sherman, — pocketed 
all  snubs  and  gone  wherever  ordered,  and  so  have  become  the 
foremost  "  Roman  of  them  all."  But  I  don't  know.  It  seems 
almost  inevitable  that  Savannah,  Charleston  and  Wilmington 
will  soon  be  ours.  The  Rebel  order  already  given  to  econo- 
mize arms  and  missiles  proves  the  supply  to  be  scanty.  What 
then  when  British  aid  is  utterly  prevented?  Sherman  has,  no 
doubt,  collected  an  army  of  able-bodied  negroes,  and  our  mul- 
tiplied stations  on  the  highland  and  the  ocean  frontier  of  the 


CORRESPONDENCE.  1 99 

remaining  rebel  territory  will  speedily  draw  the  rest.  It  is 
now  desirable  that  Davis  and  his  confreres  should  be  thor- 
oughly stubborn  to  the  last,  so  that  their  banishment  or  death 
may  result  in  spite  of  Presidential  or  Congressional  amnesty; 
and  then,  with  God's  blessing,  we  shall  have  a  just  and  glo- 
rious peace. 

Keep  thinking  now  and  then  whether  there  is  a  place  in 
some  department,  Freedmen's  Bureau,  &c,  wherein  I  could  be 
useful.     Allow  something  for  a  bad  pen,  and  think  me 

Your  good  friend,  Samuel  Aaron. 

Mr.  Charles  S.  Bates. 


Washington,  D.  C,  February  9,  1865. 

My  Dear  Friend — I  called  to  see  Mr.  Sumner,  and  spent 
a  good  part  of  the  evening  of  the  2d  of  January  with  him,  and 
was  advised  to  write  you  to  come  on  here,  or  get  Dr.  Chan- 
ning  to  invite  you  to  come,  which  I  have  been  endeavoring  to 
do.  But  before  I  got  to  see  Dr.  Channing,  he  had  made  ar- 
rangements for  all  the  Sundays  of  this  short  session,  which 
have  thus  far  been  occupied  by  himself,  he  having  closed  the 
church  for  the  session.  Another  reason  has  been  that  the 
Grand  Division  resolved  to  have  a  great  celebration  in  the 
capitol  on  the  evening  of  the  15th,  which  has  now  been  inter- 
fered with  by  their  evening  sessions.  Still,  we  intend  to  have 
one  after  the  adjournment.  In  the  meantime  I  am  advised  by 
the  officers  of  the  Grand  Division,  who  have  charge  of  the 
subject,  to  invite  vou  to  come  on  at  your  earliest  convenience. 
I  am  particularly  desirous  to  see  you  here,  as  Mr.  Sumner 
told  me  the  bill  before  Congress  to  establish  a  Freedman's 
Bureau  would  become  a  law,  and  that  you  are  the  very  kind 
of  man  that  must  be  put  at  the  head  of  it,  and  I  am  satisfied 
he  will  have  a  large  say  in  the  appointments  under  its  pro- 
visions.    I  know  also  that  Mr.  Stevens  and would  be 

glad  to  aid  in  having  you  appointed.  There  is  a  great  field 
here  for  you  to  operate  in,  and  I  hope  soon  to  see  you  here. 

This  evening  I  shall  introduce  the  subject  of  having  a 
public  meeting  held   by  our  division   in  one   of  the    large 


200  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

churches,  and  will  leave  this  until  to-morrow.  It  was  decided 
at  our  meeting  last  night  to  hold  a  public  meeting  on  Thurs- 
day night  the  26th  inst,  at  my  instance,  and  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  procure  one  of  the  large  churches  and  speakers  for 
the  occasion,  and  make  all  necessary  arrangements.  I,  there- 
fore, as  chairman  of  the  committee,  take  this  early  opportunity 
of  inviting  you,  my  dear  brother,  to  come  and  take  part  with 
us;  chief  part,  in  fact  the  only  part,  save  what  our  G.  W.  P. 
may  have  to  say.  I  trust  you  will  make  arrangements  to 
come  and  spend  at  least  a  week;  I  hope  until  after  the  4th 
of  March.  Your  travelling  expenses  will  be  borne  and  all 
other  expenses.  I  have  enough  boys  in  the  division  from  our 
department  who  would  be  glad  to  contribute  to  bear  all  your 
expenses.  I  have  consulted  G.  W.  P.  Bradley  with  regard  to 
your  coming,  and  have  his  approbation;  in  fact,  the  intention 
was  to  invite  you  for  the  15th  (by  the  officers  appointed  at  the 
session  of  the  Grand  Division),  had  it  not  been  delayed.  I 
hope  you  will  be  able  to  stay  with  us  for  some  time. 

My  daughters  informed  me  that  you  gave  them  an  ad- 
dress at  the  Methodist  church  on  Sunday  afternoon.  They 
also  told  me  that  you  had  been  quite  ill,  but  are  now  con- 
valescent. May  I  not  hope  that  you  will  call  and  see  my  little 
flock  soon? 

Yours  truly,  C.  S.  Bates. 

Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


Norristovvn,  February  11,  1865. 
Dear  Sir — I  hope  you  will  not  think  me  very  importu- 
nate if,  notwithstanding  your  refusal,  I  beseech  you  to  come 
and  give  us  a  lecture,  and  when  I  tell  you  my  reasons  you 
will  not  be  surprised  at  my  persistence.  George  Francis 
Train  lectured  here  last  night,  and  came  out  in  a  most  shame- 
ful tirade  against  England,  urging  war  with  her;  and  what  is 
much  worse,  spoke  in  the  most  degrading  manner  of  the  poor 
down-trodden  Africans,  making  them  little  better  than  mon- 
keys, and  only  fit  to  be  the  bearer  of  burdens.  He  said  he  had 
always  found  them  so  in  their  own  country  and  everywhere 
he  had  seen  them.     My  indignation  would  hardly  allow  me 


CORRESPONDENCE.  201 

to  keep  my  seat;  and  when  he  had  done  speaking,  I  went  to 
him,  and  told  him  he  had  done  more  harm  than  he  could  un- 
do for  a  long  time.  His  reply  was:  "I  never  was  on  their 
side";  and  yet,  a  short  time  before,  he  had  said  he  was  always 
on  the  side  of  the  weak.  He  is  a  very  amusing  lecturer,  and 
there  was  a  large  audience,  and  he  pandered  to  their  preju- 
dices, and  no  doubt  one-half  of  them  thought  him  right,  and 
many  more  were  glad  of  an  excuse  to  be  of  the  same  opinion. 
And  now,  unless  you,  sir,  or  some  one  equally  true  to  the 
good  and  right,  will  come,  and  before  the  same  people,  will 
vindicate  the  cause  of  the  poor  African,  and  show  how  un- 
christian the  desire  for  a  war  with  any  people,  except  for  a 
great  cause,  like  the  one  we  are  now  engaged  in,  is  for  an  en- 
lightened people,  such  as  we  are,  to  indulge  in,  I  shall  feel 
that  our  Saviour's  teachings  have  been  trampled  under  foot 
by  an  infidel,  and  no  one  has  thought  it  worth  while  to  speak 
against  him.  In  addition  to  what  I  have  already  said  as  a 
reason  for  your  coming,  we  still  need  money  for  the  poor,  and 
I  know  of  no  one  who  would  fill  the  house  as  well  as  you,  as 
both  your  friends  and  enemies  will  go  to  hear  you.  I  wish 
Mrs.  Aaron  would  accompany  you,  and  let  us  have  the  pleas- 
ure of  a  visit  from  you  both.  I  will  mention  the  ioth  of 
March,  if  that  time  will  meet  your  convenience,  as  that  will 
give  you  time  to  refresh  your  memory  on  all  the  points  in 
history  of  the  intellect  and  strength  relating  to  the  African 
character.  I  know  I  am  asking  a  great  favor.  Please  remem- 
ber me  kindly  to  all  your  family. 

Sincerely  your  friend,  . 

Rev.  Samuel  Aarqn. 


Mount  Holly,  February  15,  1865. 
My  Dear  Frioid — I  feel  most  grateful  to  you  for  your  un- 
faltering kindness  to  me,  and  almost  flatter  myself  that  some 
great  advantage  must  grow  out  of  it.  But  it  is  absolutely  im- 
possible for  me  to  leave  home  even  for  three  days  at  this  sea- 
son of  the  year.  I  teach  the  largest  classes,  and  there  is  no 
substitute  to  be  found  in  my  place. 


202  .  REV.   SAMUEL    AARON. 

I  enclose  herewith  a  letter  to  Senator  ,  in  which  I 

have  requested  him  to  urge  the  claims  of  Governor  Andrew 
to  a  place  in  the  new  Cabinet;  and  have  also  asked  him  to 
think  of  me  for  a  place  in  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  and  to  speak 
to  Senators  Harris  (who  is  a  Baptist),  Sumner  and  Wilson,  and 
to  Thaddeus  Stevens.     Whatever  you  can  do  through  Senator 

and  otherwise,  I  will  be  unspeakably  obliged  to  you 

to  do;  though  I  earnestly  request  that  it  may  all  be  done  as 
quietly  as  possible.  I  have  scarcely  the  slightest  expectation 
of  a  favorable  result,  and  deprecate  the  effect  of  disappointment 

at  home.     I  rejoice  at  the  promotion  of  Mr.  ,  and  still 

more  at  his  integrity  and  courage  in  effecting  the  removal  of 
immoral  public  servants.  May  heaven  preserve  and  strengthen 
him  in  all  such  noble  efforts,  and  may  the  American  people 
and  their  representatives  soon  accept  the  same  views  on  this 
point  which  he  and  I  have  so  long  cherished. 

And  now  a  word  about  our  public  affairs.  Thanks  be  to 
God  for  the  vote  in  Congress  proposing  to  the  states  the  great 
amendment.  I  think  three-fourths  of  the  loyal  states  have  the 
power  to  ratify  that  vote  and  make  it  valid.  Mr.  Sumner 
urges  this  view;  and  it  is  absurd  to  call  on  those  who  have 
tried  to  murder  the  constitution  for  their  help  in  giving  it  a 
new  vitality.  It  is  likely,  however,  that  this  absurdity  will  be 
insisted  on,  and  possibly  the  determination  of  the  question  may 
come  before  the  Supreme  Court.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
three-fourths  of  the  loyal  states  will  assent  to  the  amendment. 
It  is  really  amusing  to  find  the  Rebel  oracles  who  determined 
to  crush  the  Union  because,  as  they  said,  the  North  would 
discuss  the  "  negro  question,"  engaged  themselves  in  discuss- 
ing that  and  nothing  else;  discussing  it,  too,  much  more  radi- 
cally than  was  ever  done  in  the  old  Congress,  whether  the 
negroes  shall  be  made  soldiers  to  secure  Rebel  independence, 
and  whether  all  or  how  many  shall  be  emancipated.  How 
amazingly  clear  in  these  things  is  the  interference  of  Divine 
Providence,  in  forcing  to  the  lips  and  throats  of  reluctant 
tyrants  the  very  dregs  of  that  cup  to  avoid  which  they  rushed 
into  the  blackest  treason  and  the  bloodiest  war. 

I  predicted  rightly  the  course  of  Sherman  in  his  career 
through  Georgia,  viz.,  that  he  was  aiming  at  a  sea  base.     And 


CORRESPONDENCE.  20T, 

now  I  venture  to  prognosticate  that  he  is  pushing  forward  to 
co-operate  with  Grant  for  the  great  purpose  of  crushing  Lee, 
the  Rebel  military  genius,  in  whose  hand  alone  the  sinews  of 
their  war-power  meet,  and  whose  heart  and  brain  give  plan 
and  spirit  to  their  treason  and  rebellion.  Sherman  is  now  about 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Richmond  and  one  hundred 
from  those  parts  of  North  Carolina  where  he  will  find  more 
friends  than  Lee  can.  In  thirty  days  of  far  more  moderate 
marching  than  he  made  in  Georgia  he  can  reach  the  Appo- 
mattox. I  cannot  conceive  that  any  formidable  force  can  be 
concentrated  to  impede  his  progress;  and  the  nature  of  the 
season,  though  unfavorable  to  rapid  marching,  is  well  adapted 
to  connect  him  with  the  sea,  because  the  rivers  will  be  full  for 
the  next  two  months,  and  the  Santee,  Wateree,  two  Pedees, 
Cape  Fear,  Neuse,  Tar,  Roanoke  and  Ohowan,  all  large  win- 
ter streams,  can  surely  be  controlled  by  our  mighty  navy  and 
Sherman's  army  abundantly  supplied  with  men  and  munitions 
at  intervals  averaging  forty  miles.  These  suggestions  may  be 
practically  blank,  but  the  natural  basis  stands  as  I  have  stated; 
and  if  I  were  as  great  a  General  as  Sherman,  I  should  try  to 
realize  the  plan.  The  Rebels  will  hardly  carry  out  the  arm- 
ing of  the  blacks,  and  will  fail  in  the  attempt  if  our  people  will 
only  have  the  sense  and  magnanimity  to  give  the  franchise  to 
the  bravest  and  most  intelligent  among  them;  and  especially 
if  military  honors  and  posts  are  given  to  the  capable  and  true. 
The  massacre  resulting  from  the  act  of  Jeff.  C.  Davis  at  one  of 
the  Georgia  rivers  should  be  the  subject  of  investigation  by 
the  War  Committee,  and  whoever  is  responsible  for  it  should 
be  signally  punished  and  forever  disgraced.  Wendell  Phillips 
blames  Sherman;  but  I  hope  so  brave  and  wise  a  man  will 
escape  that  stain. 

I  do  not  heartily  approve  Mr.  Lincoln's  condescension  to 
those  artful  Rebels  whom  he  met  at  Fort  Monroe;  but  still  it 
seems  to  have  impressed  some  of  the  conciliators  that  traitors' 
hearts  are  not  so  soft  as  they  regarded  them,  and  the  Tribune 
of  to-day  thinks  it  stimulates  desertion  from  the  Rebel  ranks. 
I  rejoice  with  all  my  soul  that  Lincoln  and  Seward  did  not 
lower  their  terms.  I  feared  that  Seward  might  do  so,  and  that 
he  would  influence  Lincoln.      But  all  seems  well.     Honor  to 


204  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Stanton  and  Dana  for  the  ground  they  take  about  the  clerks. 

I  have  had  various  invitations  this  winter  to  lecture  here 

and   there,  and   have  now  an  urgent  one  to  answer  George 

Francis  Train  at  Norristown.     Perhaps  I   may  go.     Give  my 

respects  to  Senator ,  Mr.  Stevens,  Dr.  Elder,  and  others 

that  you  know  I  esteem,  and  regard  me  as  ever, 

Your  sincere  friend,  Samuel  Aaron. 

Mr.  Charles  S.  Bates. 


Martinsburg,  Va.,  November  2,  1864. 

My  Friend  and  Brother — During  the  past  month  I  have 
written  to  a  number  of  my  correspondents,  and  thought  your 
turn  had  come  to-day.  I  am  here  alone,  and  have  been  for 
several  days  in  a  house  (and  a  very  poor  one;  my  former  one 
a  few  days  ago  burned  to  the  ground,  and  some  things  with 
it)  about  five  by  six  feet,  with  plenty  of  ventilation,  and  the 
weather  here  has  been  very  cold.  *  *  *  It  affords  me 
much  pleasure  and  consolation  when  I  learn  from  my  wife  that 
you  and  your  family  are  so  kind  and  sociable  to  my  little  trio 
company  while  I  am  far,  far  away  from  them  in  this  land  of 
blood  and  carnage. 

Last  summer  while  I  was  at  Cold  Harbor  1  volunteered 
mv  services  in  our  hospital.  Amongst  a  large  number  of  poor 
wounded  soldiers  (Union)  were  two  rebels,  one  not  danger- 
ously and  the  other  the  surgeons  did  not  touch,  thinking  the 
•wound  mortal,  and  left  the  poor  fellow  there  to  die.  He  laid 
there  weltering  in  his  blood  for  some  time,  and  I  thought  I 
must  try  and  do  something  for  him.  I  put  forth  all  the  skill 
I  had  and  nursed  him  faithfully  for  a  number  of  days,  and  had 
the  satisfaction  of  hearing  the  surgeons  say  that  they  thought 
he  would  recover,  and  I  helped  move  him  into  a  wagon  to 
come  North.  Did  I  do  right  or  did  I  not?  My  conscience 
answers,  yes.  If  that  poor  rebel  gets  well  I  shall  feel  that  I 
was  the  humble  instrument  of  saving  his  life.  My  motto  is, 
use  our  enemies  well  when  we  have  them  wounded  or  pris- 
oners.    *     *     * 


CORRESPONDENCE.  205 

There  is  much  profanity  and  most  intolerable  drunken- 
ness in  the  army.  How  I  do  hate  rum;  if  I  had  no  other 
name  to  call  it,  I  would  call  it  devil.  I  think  your  skirts  will 
not  be  covered  with  blood  in  the  great  judgment  day  because 
you  have  not  testified  against  this  monster;  but  I  believe  that 
many  who  call  themselves  the  ministers  of  Christ  will  have  a 

most  dreadful  acccunt  to  give.     I  venerate  Brother for 

the  noble  stand  he  takes  in  testifying  against  rum  and  slavery. 

While  I  think  of  it,  I  would  say  that  Lieutenant  ,  a 

former  pupil  of  yours  at  Norristown  (now  in  the  hands  of  the 
rebels  since  the  battle  of  the  Wilderness),  wished  me  to  give 
you  and  your  family  his  respects.  He  told  me  many  things 
to  tell  you  that  I  have  forgotten,  not  having  seen  him  since 
early  last  Spring.  He  thinks  there  are  few  such  women  as 
Mrs.  Aaron.  He  spoke  about  being  sick  while  at  school,  and 
of  her  great  care  for  his  comfort.     I  liked  him  myself,  and  he 

drank  no  rum.      He  and  Captain came  very  near  fighting 

a  duel  last  winter,  with  rifles,  only  five  yards  apart.  I  think 
he  was  writing  and  arranging  his  business  all  the  night  before 
the  conflict  was  to  take  place.  Some  of  the  superior  officers 
heard  of  it  and  placed  them  under  arrest,  thereby,  I  suppose, 

saving  the  life  of  one  of  them.     Captain  was  shot  by  a 

rebel;  the  bullet  entered  his  chin  and  passed  out  through  his 
left  ear.  I  helped  carry  him  about  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the 
hospital,  while  solid  shot  fell  thick  and  fast  around  us  and 
very  near. 

I  have  many  things  to  tell  you,  but  cannot  write  more 
now.  I  trust  I  shall  see  you  before  many  weary  months  pass 
away  and  speak  face  to  face.  I  have  a  great  love  for  the  Bap- 
tist church  at  Mount  Holly,  and  have  been  hoping  and  pray- 
ing for  a  great  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  there.  I  hope 
the  Lord  will  give  you  the  power  of  breaking  many  a  hard 
and  sinful  heart.  My  respects  to  all  of  good  will.  My  kind 
regards  to  all  your  family. 

Yours  in  Christian  bonds, 

L S . 

To  Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


206  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Philadelphia,  April  13,  1865. 
Dear  Brother — Your  kind  favor  of  yesterday  is  just  re- 
ceived. I  am  truly  sorry  that  I  am  unable  to  attend  the 
funeral  of  precious  Brother  Aaron,  but  I  am  quite  ill  and  un- 
der the  doctor's  hands.  For  no  man  living  had  I  more  re- 
spect than  for  Samuel  Aaron.  One  of  nature's  noblemen,  he 
grew  in  my  love  and  admiration  at  every  interview.  Brilliant 
talents,  sound  learning,  unfailing  industry  and  symmetrical 
piety,  distinguished  him  on  all  occasions.  Few  have  his  cou- 
rage, and  still  fewer  his  strong  common  sense.  Oh,  what  a 
loss  he  is  to  the  militant  church.  I  rejoice  that  he  lived  to 
see  the  opinions  as  to  justice  to  the  black  man,  for  which  he 
suffered  ignominy  and  reproach,  become  the  sentiments  of  the 
nation.  He  suffered  the  fate  of  all  who  are  in  advance  of  their 
age;  but  his  God  has  crowned  him  with  honor  and  eternal 
life.  I  hope  the  family  will  send  to  the  Historical  Society  his 
likeness,  and  any  manuscripts  or  other  mementoes,  to  be  pre- 
served in  its  archives.  I  hope,  too,  that  his  pamphlets  will 
not  go  to  the  paper  mill,  at  least  not  until  such  as  should  be 
treasured  up,  where  they  will  be  useful,  are  gathered  out. 

Yours  in  the  great  bond, 

Howard  Malcom. 
To  Mr.  C.  E.  A. 


[Extract  fkom  a  Letter  from   Rev.  William   Scott.] 

April  14,  1865. 

When  I  heard  of  Brother  Aaron's  death,  I  felt  that  I  had 
lost  a  personal  friend,  one  to  whose  instructions,  counsels  and 
prayers,  I  was  greatly  indebted  during  the  hazardous  period 
of  youth.  The  cause  of  truth  has  lost  one  of  her  most  faith- 
ful, earnest  and  eloquent  advocates.  Though  "  the  good  which 
men  do  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones,"  it  will  not  be  so  with 
our  highly  esteemed  brother.  His  works  will  live  after  him. 
The  freedmen  of  to-day  are  under  lasting  obligations  to  one 
who  was  the  staunch  advocate  of  the  rights  of  man ;  the  bitter 
foe  of  oppression  in  all  its  forms.     Many,  no  doubt,  were  de- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  207 

livered  from  the  curse  of  intemperance  through  his  efforts  or 
taught  to  shun  the  intoxicating  cup.  His  influence  upon  the 
young  men  who  enjoyed  his  instruction  was,  I  believe,  of  the 
most  salutary  character. 


[Extract  from  Letter  from   Rev.  Wm.  S.  Hall.] 

Philadelphia,  April  29,  1865. 

Yours  of  the  27th  inst.  has  just  come  to  hand,  and  I 
hasten  to  reply.  When  I  left  you  the  day  of  the  funeral  of 
your  venerable  and  honored  father,  I  did  fully  expect  to  write 
to  you  soon,  but  other  duties  have  put  this  out  of  the  question. 
Yesterday  I  received  a  letter  from  Dr.  Nathan  Brown  of  the 
American  Baptist,   New   York,   requesting    me   to   prepare   a 

memoir  of  your  dear  father.     I  replied  to   Dr.  B that  I 

was  incapable  of  doing  anything  like  justice  to  such  a  man; 
such  a  Christian;  such  a  Christian  reformer;  for  I  did  not 
think  we  had  the  like  of  him  in  our  denomination.  The  man, 
the  scholar,  his  spirit,  principles,  labors  and  triumphs,  de- 
manded something  more  than  I  was  competent  to  prepare.  I 
therefore  suggested  that  the  Board  of  the  American  Baptist 
Free  Mission  Society,  at  their  meeting  on  the  8th  of  May, 
would  appoint  a  committee  of  three,  Rev.  A.  L.  Post,  C.  E. 
Aaron  and  myself,  to  prepare  or  provide  such  a  notice  of  your 
father's  life  and  character  as  was  due  to  the  cause  he  served. 
I  shall  in  all  probability  go  on  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the 
Board  to  further  this  object.  Rev.  J.  Hyatt  Smith,  and  others, 
suggest  that  we  should  publish  a  small  volume,  as  hundreds 
would  want  it.  If  you  have  anything  to  suggest  in  this  mat- 
ter, I  should  be  pleased  to  hear  from  you  next  week.  There 
was  no  man  on  earth  that  I  loved  and  tried  to  honor  as  I  did 
your  father.  He  made  me  a  better  man  and  a  better  Christ- 
ian, and  more  determined  to  live,  suffer  and  die,  if  need  be, 
for  our  principles. 

To  Mr.  C.  E.  A. 


208  rev.  samuel  aaron. 

Free  Mission  Anniversary — Address  of  the  President. 

May  8,  1865. 
*  *  *  Our  song  is  still  "of  mercy  and  judgment." 
The  rebellion  which  has  for  four  years  afflicted  our  country, 
the  most  gigantic  in  history,  is  virtually  crushed,  and  slavery, 
"the  sum  of  all  villainies,"  its  cause,  in  its  organic  iniquity,  is 
virtually  dead.  *  *  *  All  loyal  hearts  must  rejoice  with 
exceeding  joy.  And  yet,  too,  we  mourn.  *  *  *  Among 
the  many  thousands  who  have  fallen  victims  to  the  slave 
power,  or  have  been  offered  as  martyrs  upon  the  altar  of 
country  and  freedom,  Abraham  Lincoln,  our  late  President, 
honored  as  no  other  man  in  this  country  has  been  honored, 
stands  most  conspicuous.  *  *  *  He  died  a  martyr  to 
liberty;  and  well  may  the  nation  mourn.  We,  as  a  society, 
mourn,  and  well  we  may,  one  not  so  honored  in  obsequies, 
not  having  so  world-wide  a  fame  as  the  lamented  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  yet,  in  many  respects,  greater  than 
he.  Our  beloved  brother,  Samuel  Aaron,  one  of  our  oldest 
members,  brightest  and  most  cultivated  intellects,  noblest 
hearts,  and  most  eloquent  advocates,  has  finished  his  work 
on  earth;  and  after  seeing  the  dawning  of  triumph  for  the 
cause  in  which  he  had  so  long  and  devotedly  labored  and 
sacrificed,  has  gone  to  rest  with  other  kindred  spirits  in  the 
bosom  of  him  whom  they  had  served  and  loved.  He  died, 
true,  not  by  the  hand  of  violence,  but  disease  took  him  in  the 
quietness  of  home,  and  he  passed  away  in  the  conscious 
triumph  of  the  Christian's  hope.  While  rejoicing  in  this,  we 
bow  and  weep  over  our  loss,  and  in  deepest  sympathy  with 
the  loss  of  his  bereaved  family.  Let  due  honor  be  given  to 
his  memory.  When  our  giant  republic  was  held  in  the  slimy 
folds  of  slavery,  and  our  government  bowed  to  its  behest; 
when  it  was  a  signal  for  political  proscription  and  impunity 
for  mob  violence  to  speak  of  liberty  and  the  rights  of  hu- 
manity, with  the  few,  he  stood  up  in  his  noble  manhood,  and 
thundered  God's  anathemas  against  the  national  guilt.  When 
the  churches  were  made  to  bow  in  silence  to  the  slave  power, 
and  D.  D.s  even  to  quote  texts  of  Scripture  for  its  encourage- 
ment and  support,  he,  in  the  face  of  proscription  and  denun- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  209 

ciation  as  a  fanatic,  lifted  up  his  voice  like  a  trumpet,  and 
showed  the  people  their  transgressions  and  the  churches  their 
sins.  With  a  power  of  argument  and  eloquence  of  language 
and  pathos  unsurpassed,  he  swept  away  the  cobweb  of  pro- 
slavery  sophistry,  and  in  the  light  of  an  unperverted  Bible  and 
a  pure  Christianity,  raised  the  humblest  and  most  degraded 
slave  to  the  dignity  of  an  equal  manhood  and  Christian 
brotherhood.  When  the  tide  of  intemperance  was  deluging 
the  country,  and  drunkard-makers  were  made  honorable  by 
public  opinion  and  public  law,  he  stemmed  the  current,  gave 
a  helping  hand  to  the  poor  inebriate,  and  at  the  expense  of 
stripes  many,  poured  burning  truth  and  stern  rebuke  upon 
the  consciences  of  those  who  had  made  him  such.  Beloved 
by  the  poor  and  oppressed  for  his  deep  sympathy  and  liberal- 
ity in  the  hearts  of  all  who  loved  purity,  truth  and  moral  cou- 
rage ;  admired  by  even  those  who,  in  their  time  serving, 
feared  him,  and  hated  only  by  the  vile,  he  lived.  Among  the 
world's  noble  men,  her  educators,  her  patriots,  her  preachers 
of  the  Gospel,  and  Christian  philanthropists,  he  stood  and 
labored  in  the  front  rank.  He  rests  now  from  his  labors,  and 
his  works  do  follow  him.  It  will  be  ours,  individually,  sooner 
or  later,  to  follow;  and  heaven  grant  that  our  work,  accord- 
ing to  our  several  capacities,  may  be  as  well  done,  and  our 
death  as  triumphant  as  his. 


New  London,  Penna.,  April  18,  1865. 
My  Dear  Niece — On  my  return  from  the  meeting  of  our 
Presbytery  last  week,  I  received  letters  from  my  brothers 
William  and  Louis,  giving  me  the  unexpected  and  startling 
tidings  of  the  death  of  your  father,  who  was  also  my  own  dear 
friend  and  brother.  I  also  received  on  Saturday,  at  noon,  an 
invitation  to  myself  and  family  to  attend  his  funeral.  It  was 
a  matter  of  much  regret  to  me  that  I  could  not  see  my  way 
clear  to  be  with  you  on  that  mournful  occasion.  Though  sad 
in  itself,  there  would  have  been  a  kind  of  sorrowful  satisfaction 
in  thus  witnessing  the  last  on  earth  of  one  whom  I  so  highly 
esteemed.     But  as  it  was  on  Saturday,  and  I  could  not  return 


2IO  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

the  same  day,  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  disappoint  the  peo- 
ple by  leaving  my  pulpit  vacant.  I  have  since  received  a  let- 
ter from  Louis,  giving  me  an  account  of  the  funeral  and  of  the 
exercises  connected  with  it,  and  was  gratified  to  hear  of  the 
very  large  and  serious  assembly  that  came  together  to  pay 
their  last  tribute  of  respect  and  affection  to  the  memory  of 
their  departed  friend  and  pastor. 

Your  late  father  and  I  were  once  closely  and  intimately 
connected  in  business,  and  otherwise,  for  five  or  six  years. 
During  that  period,  and  often  at  other  times,  I  had  frequent 
opportunities  of  observing  his  character  as  a  teacher,  a  min- 
ister of  Christ,  a  citizen,  a  moral  reformer,  a  husband  and 
father  and  friend,  and  a  Christian  man.  He  was  certainly  a 
very  able,  talented  and  faithful  instructor  of  youth.  His 
former  pupils  are  scattered  by  hundreds  all  over  this  land  ; 
and  whatever  of  good  they  may  do,  he  has  helped  to  prepare 
them  to  do  it.  As  a  preacher,  he  possessed  a  rare  and  a  stir- 
ring eloquence.  He  loved  his  country,  and  stood  by  it  in  its 
darkest  hours.  How  manfully  he  battled  for  temperance  and 
for  freedom  every  one  knows.  I  have  seen  him  in  some  of 
the  most  trying  scenes  of  domestic  life,  when  bereavements 
touched  his  heart,  but  he  bowed  his  head  to  the  storm,  and 
could  say,  "  Thy  will  be  done !"  What  he  was  as  a  father  you 
very  well  know;  and  what  he  was  as  a  friend  I  have  reason  to 
know.  He  was  true  and  faithful  to  me;  helped  me  in  my  dif- 
ficulties; and  though  we  have  been  much  separated  for  many 
years,  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  he  never  forgot  the  friend- 
ship of  our  earlier  life.  But  what  was  better  than  all  these,  he 
loved  Jesus,  trusted  in  him,  followed  him,  and  served  him. 
That  blessed  Saviour  has  at  last  released  him  from  his  labors 
on  earth,  and  said  to  him,  "Friend,  come  up  higher!"  You, 
and  all  his  family,  his  people  and  his  friends  mourn,  but  he  is 
rejoicing.  We  have  lost  for  a  season  one  that  we  loved;  he 
has  gone  to  his  rest  and  entered  the  kingdom  of  glory. 

When  I  met  him  last  month  at  brother  Charles's  funeral, 
he  was  talking  about  his  good  health;  said  that  he  had  not 
yet  begun  to  feel  that  he  was  growing  old;  "but  this  event," 
said  he,  referring  to  your  uncle's  death,  "  has  impressed  it 
more  powerfully  upon   me  than  anything  that  has  ever  oc- 


CORRESPONDENCE.  2  I  I 

curred,  for  we  were  very  nearly  of  the  same  age."  Little  did 
I  then  think  that  in  one  short  month  lie  too  would  be  num- 
bered with  the  dead.  But  such  is  life.  We  arc  here  to-day; 
to-morrow  we  are  in  eternity.  Oh,  how  important  that  we 
should  ever  be  found  waiting  and  watching  for  the  coming  of 
the  son  of  man. 

I  trust  that  a  kind  Providence  will  watch  over  you  all, 
your  mother,  your  sisters  and  yourself.  Please  give  our  kind 
regards  to  your  mother,  your  sisters,  and  your  brother  and  his 
family.     May  our  Heavenly  Father  sustain  and  bless  you  all. 

Your  affectionate  uncle, 

Robert  P.  Du  Bois. 
Mrs,  M.  D.  Wiegand. 


New  York,  June  6,  1865. 
My  Dear  Friend — I  view  Brother  Aaron's  death  as  a 
creat  national  and  denominational  calamity.  I  loved  him  as 
I  love  only  a  few,  though  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  knowing 
him  intimately.  He  was  one  of  the  few  who  are  what  God 
intended  to  make  when  he  created  Adam— a  man.  He  strove 
to  be  what  a  man  ought  to  be,  what  God  requires.  For  his 
honest,  lofty,  godly  manliness,  his  generous  and  religious 
benevolence,  his  unsullied  purity  and  unselfishness,  I  loved 
him,  and  do  mourn  his  loss  as  a  dear  personal  friend.  God 
had  gifted  him  as  only  a  few  are  endowed,  with  a  mind  of  the 
first  and  highest  order;  for  this  I  admired  him.  Oh,  how  it 
does  seem  as  if  we  could  not  spare  him.  He  was  greatly 
missed  at  our  anniversary  in  everything.  But  God  knows 
what  is  best.  You  must  all  be  deeply  grieved.  You  better 
and  only  know  what  a  vacuum  is  made  by  his  removal.  I 
seem  to  realize  almost  how  I  should  feel  if  I  had  been  daily 
accustomed  to  listen  to  his  wisdom  and  look  upon  his  unsur- 
passed loveliness.  I  need  not  repeat  to  you  what  you  realize 
too  keenly.  I  am  not  trying  to  write  you  a  letter  to  express 
something  that  will  please  you.  What  I  have  said  is  purely 
accidental,  and  I  hope  you  will  excuse  it,  but  allow  me  to  say 


212  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

for  my  own  relief  what  wells  up  in  my  mind  almost  every  day 
as  I  think  of  him.  It  is  pleasurable  and  painful  in  equal  de- 
grees to  have  had  so  loved  a  friend.  We  never  shall  see  his 
like  again,  I  fear.  Would  we  might.  Will  you  please  ex- 
press my  regard  and  sympathy  to  your  mother. 

Yours  truly,  John  Duer. 


Bordentown,  October  10,  1865. 

My  Dear  Sister  in  Christ — At  the  last  meeting  of  the 
West  New  Jersey  Baptist  Association,  with  which  your  hus- 
band was  connected  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  by  virtue  of 
being  pastor  of  the  Mount  Holly  Baptist  Church,  it  was  voted 
a  letter  of  condolence  to  you  should  be  forwarded  from  me, 
expressive  of  our  deep  sense  of  your  loss,  and  the  high  esteem 
in  which  your  companion  was  held  by  us  all.  It  has  always 
seemed  to  me  that  flattery  of  the  living  deserves  reprehension; 
but  when  death  has  divided  us  from  the  loved,  the  good  and 
the  true,  it  is  not  only  well,  but  wise,  to  call  up  in  remember- 
ance  their  virtues,  and  make  mention  of  them  to  others,  that 
they  may  escape  the  grave's  oblivion,  and  stimulate  the  living 
to  emulate  them. 

Your  dear  husband  was  one  to  whom  nature  was  prodigal 
in  her  best  gifts;  and  assiduous  application  to  study,  and  a 
long  course  of  teaching,  had  enlarged  the  original  bounty, 
while  the  workings  of  divine  grace  had  carried  him  quite  well 
along  towards  the  point  of  a  perfectly  ripe  Christian  manhood. 
He  was  born  to  be  no  idler  in  whatever  field  his  lot  might  be 
cast;  and  his  native  humanity,  largely  improved  by  the  spirit 
of  that  Gospel  which  he  preached,  made  him  see  the  two  com- 
mon wrongs,  under  which  the  poor  and  weak  suffer  and  groan; 
and  it  would  have  been  a  violation  of  all  that  was  good  and 
noble  in  him  to  have  kept  silent.  You  know  he  always  took 
the  part  of  such;  hence  his  life  could  not  have  been  expected 
to  be  free  from  turbulence.  But  all  grows  quiet  when  the 
turf  lies  on  his  breast;  and  even  the  oppressor,  called  back  to 
a  better  consciousness,  has  tears  for  his  memory  and  words  of 


CORRESPONDENCE.  2  I  3 

praise  for  his  broad  humanity  and  Christian  fidelity.  Few 
men  have  been  followed  to  the  grave  by  truer  friends  or  more 
tender  recollections.  Our  Association,  in  which  he  was  long 
known,  and  which  had  honored  him  with  its  highest  gifts,  did 
not  refrain  from  tears  at  the  mention  of  his  name  in  its  last 
meeting.  He  was  largely  what  he  was  in  those  things  which  en- 
deared him  to  us  most,  by  the  influence  and  effects  of  the  Gos- 
pel on  him  and  in  him,  a  humble,  conscientious  Christian  man. 
All  we  can  say  to  you  is,  that  the  loss  of  such  a  husband 
is  to  sustain  a  loss  for  which  there  is  no  earthly  measure;  and 
in  such  a  deprivation  only  one  can  come  near  enough  to  com- 
fort and  support,  and  that  is  Christ  the  Lord.  But  the  period 
of  separation  from  the  departed  cannot  be  long,  for  the  dis- 
tance of  travel  is  shortened  by  every  setting  sun,  and  the  end 
of  Christian  journey  is  in  "our  Father's  house  on  high." 
Certainly,  to  you,  sister,  the  boundary  stream  that  divides  the 
wilderness  from  the  promised  land  is  not  far  away;  perhaps, 
sometimes  it  seems  almost  in  sight;  and  the  beautiful  words 
of  another  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  you  in  your  longings 
and  loneliness. 

"  Now  I  sit  and  think  when  the  sunset's  gold 

Is  flushing  river  and  hill  and  shore, 
I  shall  one  day  stand  by  the  water  cold, 

And  list  for  the  sound  of  the  boatman's  oar; 
I  shall  watch  for  a  gleam  of  the  flapping  sail, 

I  shall  hear  the  boat  as  it  gains  the  strand, 
I  shall  pass  from  sight  with  the  boatman  pale 

To  the  better  shore  of  the  spirit  land. 
I  shall  know  the  loved  who  have  gone  before, 

And  joyfully  sweet  will  the  meeting  be 
When  over  the  river,  the  peaceful  river, 

The  angel  of  Death  shall  carry  me." 

In  behalf  of  the  Association,  as  well  as  with  feelings  of  re- 
spect and  deep  sympathy, 

I  am  truly  yours,  A.  P.  Buel. 

Mrs.  E.  G.  Aaron. 


2  14  REV-  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Washington,  D.  C,  October  25,  1889. 

My  Dear  Miss  Aaron — I  received  your  letter  of  the  8th 
inst,  and  was  very  glad  to  learn  that  something  was  about  to 
be  done  to  commemorate  the  life  and  work  of  your  dear,  dis- 
tinguished father,  whom  I  loved  and  venerated  above  all  men 
I  ever  knew.  After  he  came  to  Mount  Holly  I  had  the  grati- 
fication of  being  much  in  his  company  and  learning  more  of 
his  excellence  than  I  had  ever  before  had  opportunity.  Prior 
to  that  time  I  had  only  seen  and  heard  him  occasionally  when 
he  came  there  to  preach  and  lecture  on  temperance.  The  first 
time  I  ever  heard  him  was  about  1847  or  1848,  during  the  war 
with  Mexico,  when  he  came  to  attend  a  Baptist  Association 
and  addressed  it  at  a  night  session  upon  the  war  with  Mexico, 
which  he  denounced  with  all  the  energy  he  possessed  as  a  war 
for  the  extension  and  perpetuation  of  human  slavery.  Few  men 
at  that  time,  of  any  profession,  would  have  dared  to  speak  as 
did  he;  but  his  courage  never  failed  him  in  warring  against 
wrong.  I  regret  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  all  his  let- 
ters, as  I  have  always  prized  them  so  highly  and  shown  them 
with  so  much  satisfaction  to  my  friends,  which  will  explain 
their  worn  condition.  My  estimate  of  your  father  during  our 
long  intimacy  was  and  is  that  he  was  not  only  the  best  man  I 
ever  knew  but  the  most  eloquent,  and  in  that  I  was  fully  sus- 
tained by  two  friends  whose  good  judgment  was  acknowledged 
by  all  who  knew  them,  and  they  knew  him  well. 

One  morning  on  the  cars  from  Burlington  to  Philadelphia 
I  met  William  R.  Allen,  ex-Mayor  and  ex-State  Senator,  and 
John  C.  Deacon,  a  well  known  Quaker.  On  the  way  they 
spoke  of  Mr.  Aaron,  who  had  decided  to  come  to  Mount 
Holly,  and  expressed  their  regret  that  he  did  not  decide  in 
favor  of  Burlington,  as  they  had  always  listened  to  his  ad- 
dresses with  so  much  delight  while  in  Burlington,  where  he 
had  spent  several  years  in  connection  with  the  Gummeres  in 
their  large  school,  and  where  he  preached  for  several  years.  In 
the  course  of  conversation  Mr.  Allen  said,  in  his  very  sober 
and  deliberate  way,  "I  have  heard  many  of  the  most  eminent 
preachers  and  statesmen,  and  am  free  to  say  that  Samuel  Aaron 
is  the  most  eloquent  man  I  have  ever  heard";    when  Friend 


CORRESPONDENCE.  2  I  5 

Deacon  said,  "I  agree  with  thee  in  that  opinion  fully,  and  re- 
gret that  he  did  not  cast  his  lot  with  us  in  Burlington." 

Nor  is  that  the  only  evidence  of  the  correctness  of  my 
judgment  in  that  respect,  as  upon  another  occasion  when  I  ac- 
companied him  to  New  York  in  September,  i860,  to  attend 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Bible  Union,  at  which 
Prof.  Hackett's  revision  of  Paul's  Epistle  to  Philemon  was  to 
be  considered.  Mr.  Aaron  took  serious  exception  to  it  because 
of  his  making  Onesimus  in  a  lengthy  argument  in  his  accom- 
panying notes  a  slave  of  Philemon,  while  in  the  Epistle  he 
termed  him  a  servant.     The  convention  was  held  in  a  Baptist 

church  and  presided  over  by  Dr. .      The  body  of  the 

church  was  filled  largely  by  delegates,  ministerial  and  lay,  Mr. 
Aaron  and  myself  sitting  in  the  front  pew  at  the  right  of  the 
platform,  on  which  was  seated  the  committee  of  final  revision, 
composed  of  nine  Doctors  of  Divinity,  all  of  whom  took  oc- 
casion to  speak  in  defence  of  their  report  and  complimentary 
of  the  work  of  Prof.  Hackett,  and  the  Secretary  read  from  a 
number  of  leading  newspapers  complimentary  notices  of  Prof. 

Hackett's  work.    When  Dr. arose  to  put  the  question 

on  the  adoption  of  the  report  of  the  committee,  Mr.  Aaron  arose 
and  made  the  most  eloquent  speech  I  ever  listened  to  against 
it,  the  effect  of  which  exceeded  anything  I  ever  witnessed  or 
ever  expect  to.  For  some  time  not  a  word  was  spoken;  the 
convention  seemed  to  have  been  paralyzed  by  his  anti-slavery 
utterances,  and  after  a  long  and  painful  pause  a  lay  delegate 
from  Philadelphia  moved  that  the  report  be  referred  back  to 
the  committee  with  instructions  to  report  in  accordance  with 
the  sentiments  expressed  by  Brother  Aaron,  which  was  done 
without  a  word  of  objection  by  the  committee  who  had  com- 
mended it  so  highly.  The  conservative  spirit  was  then  so 
potent  that  not  one  of  the  daily  papers  reported  the  speech; 
and  the  only  paper  that  gave  any  report  of  it  was  the  American 
Baptist,  which  was  but  a  brief  one,  as  they  had  but  brief  notes. 

In  the  summer  of  1864,  soon  after  I  came  to  Washington, 
Mr.  Aaron  requested  me  in  one  of  his  letters  to  call  on  his  old 
friend,  Thaddeus  Stevens,  and  sent  me  a  note  of  introduction, 
that  I  presented  one  evening  soon  after,  and  was  heartily  wel- 
comed.     Mr.  Stevens  expressed   himself  very  glad   to   hear 


2l6  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

from  him,  and  speaking  in  a  very  solemn  tone  said,  "  Samuel 
Aaron  is  of  the  salt  of  the  earth;  no  better  man  than  he  has 
lived,  in  my  opinion,  since  St.  Paul."  He  told  me  much  of 
their  long  intimate  intercourse  as  co-workers  in  Pennsylvania 
in  behalf  of  education,  temperance  and  abolition  of  human 
slavery,  and  invited  me  to  call  and  see  him  often,  saying  he 
should  always  be  glad  to  hear  from  his  old  friend. 

In  June,  1 864,  and  again  in  the  spring  of  1865,  as  you 
will  see  by  the  letters,  I  made  arrangements  with  Dr.  Chan- 
ning,  then  Chaplain  to  Congress,  for  Mr.  Aaron  to  preach  in 
the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  notice  of  which 
Mr.  Stevens  was  to  write,  to  be  published  in  the  newspapers 
in  advance  of  his  coming;  but  in  consequence  of  delay  from 
miscarriage  of  letters,  and  the  near  approach  of  the  close  of 
the  session,  he  decided  to  defer  it,  partly  on  account  of  the 
many  daily  duties  devolving  upon  him.  I  was  very  sorry  he 
declined  coming,  and  so  also  was  Dr.  Channing. 

Until  receiving  your  letter  I  was  not  aware  that  anything 
emanating  from  him  had  ever  been  published,  or  anything  re- 
lating to  him,  and  should  be  glad  to  have  a  copy  of  the  pam- 
phlet, as  I  prize  highly  everything  connected  with  his  name. 
I  send  you  what  letters  I  have,  to  make  use  of  as  you  pro- 
pose, and  hope  you  may  be  successful,  with  the  promised  aid, 
to  present  a  creditable  sketch  of  your  deceased  father,  who  was 
so  much  loved  by  all  who  knew  him. 

Sincerely  your  friend,  Charles  S.  Bates. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  2  I  7 

Mount  Holly,  April  12,  1865. 


My  Dear  Friends — I  hasten  to  express  the  deep  sympathy 
I  feel  for  you  in  your  great  bereavement,  and  shall  be  thank- 
ful to  serve  you  in  any  way  I  can.  We  must  all  feel  that  a 
good  and  useful  soul  has  left  this  world  to  commence  in  a 
higher  state  of  existence  a  life  still  more  useful  and  active 
because  unimpeded  by  a  feeble  and  suffering  body.  Our  dear 
friend  was  retained  here  long  enough  to  see  the  fulfillment  of 
his  most  earnest  wishes,  for  which  he  labored  so  faithfully. 
Truly  we  can  say  of  him,  he  dared  to  do  right.  Who  would 
wish  a  more  noble  epitaph.  I  pray  that  you  may  be  supported 
in  your  affliction. 

Believe  me  very  sincerely  your  friend,  , 

C.  L.  R. 

Mrs.  E.  G.  Aaron. 


[Extract  of  Letter  from  J.  W.  Loch,  Ph.  D.] 

Norristown,  January  21,  1889. 
Miss  Aaron — The  memory  of  your  father  is  dear  to  manv 
Norristown  people,  and  he  has  left  his  impress  upon  this  com- 
munity more  fully  than  any  other  man  who  has  lived  here; 
and  while  many  differed  from  him  then,  all  now  agree  that  he 
was  the  pioneer  of  many  righteous  reforms. 


Plainfield  N.  J.,  November  25,  1889. 
My  Dear  Miss  Aaron — I  am  glad  that  you  are  about  to 
write  a  sketch  of  your  father's  life,  and  am  glad  of  the  op- 
portunity given  me  to  subscribe  for  it.  The  memory  of  so 
great  and  good  a  man  ought  to  be  preserved  so  as  to  be  an 
inspiration  to  those  who  are  to  come  after  those  of  us  who. 
knew  and  loved  him.  A  generation  has  grown  up  that 
scarcely  knows  that  there  was  among  us  so  recently  a  man 
who,  in  some  respects,  stood  among  the  men  of  his  own  gen; 


2l8  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

eration  almost  without  a  peer.  My  brother,  the  late  Judge 
Yerkes  of  Philadelphia,  was  one  of  your  father's  pupils,  and 
his  admiration  of  your  father  was  unbounded.  That  was  the 
feeling  of  all  his  pupils  whom  I  have  ever  met. 

Most  truly, 

D.  J.  Yerkes. 


Amesbury,  Mass.,  First-month  3,  1889. 
Dear  Friend — I  knew  thy  father  very  well  in  the  years 
1838,  '39  and  '40.     He  was  one  of  the  truest  and  bravest  of 
my  anti-slavery  friends — a  Christian  gentleman.     I   have  al- 
ways remembered  him  with  affectionate  interest. 

Thy  friend, 

John  G.  Whittier. 
To  L.  C.  Aaron. 


[Extract  of  Letter  from  Hon.  Thos.  Adamson,  U.  S.  Consulate  General.] 

Panama,  January  10,  1890. 

Dear  Miss  Aaron — I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the 
23d  ult.  on  the  subject  of  the  book  you  are  about  to  have  pub- 
lished, which  is  to  contain  a  sketch  of  the  life  of  your  father, 
with  some  of  his  sermons,  lectures,  etc. 

I  am  very  glad  to  learn  that  there  is  a  prospect  that  we 
may  soon  have  such  a  memorial  of  one  of  the  best  and  one  of 
the  most  truly  great  men  our  country  has  ever  produced.  To 
those  who  never  had  the  privilege  of  knowing  the  Reverend 
Samuel  Aaron,  my  admiration  for  him  might  seem  to  be  almost 
idolatrous  ;  but  to  you,  his  daughter,  who  know  so  well  his 
greatness  of  mind,  the  nobility  of  his  nature,  and  the  tenderness 
and  warmth  of  his  affections — to  you  I  need  not  explain  why 
I  loved  him. 

I  cannot  claim  to  have  been  one  of  his  "good  boys,"  for 
I  often  incurred  his  displeasure  and  no  doubt  gave  him  cause 


CORRESPONDENCE.  219 

for  anxiety  as  to  my  future.  Like  others  of  his  pupils,  I  some- 
times had  to  have  interviews  with  him  in  a  private  room — in- 
terviews that  were  not  of  my  seeking;  but  I  always  left  his 
presence  with  the  feeling  that  he  had  tried  to  be  thoroughly 
just,  and  that  a  reasonable  explanation  of  seeming  misconduct 
would  always  receive  his  full  consideration.  The  only  things 
of  which  he  was  altogether  intolerant  were  deceit  and  plain 
falsehood. 

If  our  national  politics  had  ever  been  sufficiently  pure  to 
enable  him  to  have  secured  a  seat  in  the  Congress  of  the  na- 
tion, he  would  have  shown  himself  to  be  a  head  and  shoulders 
above  the  average  of  the  men  around  him  and  the  peer  of  the 
greatest  of  them.  I  have  heard  some  of  the  greatest  orators 
of  the  last  fifty  years,  but  I  never  heard  such  a  thrilling  speech, 
such  words  of  burning  eloquence,  as  when  during  the  old 
anti-slavery  days  he  addressed  a  great  .audience  in  Norristown 
on  the  subject  of  the  attempt  of  the  slave-hunters  to  capture 
the  runaway  slave  "Bill"  at  Wilkesbarre.  I  see  him  now  as 
if  it  were  yesterday,  the  tears  coursing  down  his  cheeks  as  he 
described  the  poor  hunted  slave  plunging  into  the  icy  torrent 
of  the  river  to  escape  the  human  bloodhounds.  There  were 
many  in  that  audience  who  were  unused  to  the  melting  mood, 
but  there  were  few  if  any  whose  tears  of  sympathy  failed  to 
flow  then.  Even  now,  after  a  lapse  of  almost  forty  years,  my 
cheeks  are  wet  as  I  recall  the  incident  and  the  impressive  man- 
ner in  which  it  was  described. 

With  the  memory  of  my  good,  loving  and  strictly  con- 
scientious parents  I  shall  always  associate  that  of  my  dearly 
beloved  teacher,  the  truly  Reverend  Samuel  Aaron,  and  of 
that  most  excellent  woman,  your  beloved  mother. 

Boys  are  irreverent  creatures  and  often  apply  appellatives 
to  those  they  love  which  may  sound  disrespectful.  You,  how- 
ever, will  not  misunderstand  me  when  I  say  that  more  than 
any  diploma  of  the  greatest  of  our  universities  do  I  prize  the 
distinction  of  having  been  "one  of  Sammy  Aaron's  boys." 
You  will  hardly  need  to  be  told,  then,  how  glad  I  shall  be  to 
have  you  put  my  name  on  your  list  of  subscribers.  *  *  * 
Sincerely  your  friend, 

Thomas  Adamson. 


2  20  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

Mount  Holly,  N.  J.,  September  15,  1862. 
Dear  Sir — Learning  within  a  day  or  two,  on  supposed 
good  authority,  that  you  regard  American  slavery  to  be  an 
institution  compatible  with  the  teachings  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  and  believing,  myself,  exactly  the  contrary,  I 
thought  it  best  not  to  attend  the  prayer-meeting  without  fur- 
ther consideration.  I  should  be  afraid  of  disturbing  the  har- 
mony of  the  meeting,  as  conscience  would  demand,  that  God 
would  lead  the  whole  nation  to  repent  of  slave-holding  as  our 
greatest  national  sin.  I  should  feel  compelled  to  name  that 
and  other  sins,  and  should  feel  a  sort  of  devout  indignation 
rather  than  brotherly  union  at  hearing  the  vague  phrases, 
"sin,"  "transgression,"  "iniquity,"  "  unholiness,"  etc.,  repeated 
for  an  hour.  In  the  deepest  convictions  of  my  heart,  I  feel 
that  in  this  matter  of  slave-holding,  my  country  has  made,  or 
tried  to  make,  a  "covenant  with  death  and  a  league  with  hell ;" 
and  I  expect  no  rest  for  the  people,  North  or  South,  till  the 
nation  confesses  its  sin  in  oppressing  the  poor  and  the  inno- 
cent, and  does  the  work  meet  for  repentance,  by  proclaiming 
"liberty  throughout  the  land  to  all  its  inhabitants."  If  it  is 
thought  that  such  feelings,  earnestly  uttered,  would  profit  the 
prayer-meeting,  I  shall  be  glad  to  attend. 

Yours  truly  for  the  oppressed, 

Samuel  Aaron. 
To  Rev. . 


ANTI-COLONIZATION. 


Review  of  Rev7.  Mr.  Pease, 
Odd  Fellows'  Hall,  March  10,  1854. 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen — I  appear  before  you  this  evening 
with  the  most  sincere  and  earnest  purpose  to  vindicate  what  I 
believe  to  be  truth  and  benevolence,  and  to  oppose,  with  all 
the  might  that  .God  has  given  me,  falsehood,  injustice  and  op- 
pression. I  intend  to  make  my  appeal  to  reason,  to  facts  and 
to  justice,  and  to  them  alone.  There  is  no  occasion  for  me, 
nor  those  that  I  represent,  to  invoke  the  applause  of  the  peo- 
ple; and  I  sincerely  hope  that  there  may  be  no  disposition 
in  this  assembly,  or  the  part  of  it  who  sympathize  with 
me,  to  give  me  any  applause  except  that  which  may  con- 
sist in  a  quiet  and  patient  hearing,  nor  to  express  opposition 
in  that  manner  against  those  who  may  differ  from  us  in  their 
views,  though  they  differ  even  rudely.  Let  us  show,  my  friends, 
that  we  stand  upon  the  merit  of  the  principles  which  we  advo- 
cate, that -we  ask  no  favors,  that  we  grant  all  justice,  that  we 
even  grant  more — that  we  are  willing  to  be  abused,  injured 
and  misrepresented.  I  hope,  then,  that  we  shall  be  quiet.  I 
hope  it  may  please  all  to  be  quiet.  If  there  is  anybody  that 
does  not  want  to  be  quiet,  let  him  take  the  responsibility  of  his 
position.  We  need  not  take  any  appeal  to  the  mob — the  mob 
in  satin  and  in  broadcloth,  nor  the  mob  in  rags  and  tatters,  for 
these  two  extremes  of  society  are  very  apt  to  come  very  close 
together.  There  are  many  men  in  all  communities,  and  espe- 
cially in  this,  who  have  manly  thoughts  and  manly  purposes, 
whether  in  broadcloth  or  in  cassinet.  To  them  I  appeal;  and 
for  everybody  else  I  don't  care  much,  I  tell  you,  and  you  know 
it.  [Laughter.]  I  work  for  nothing  and  find  myself,  and  the 
person  who  does  this  it  is  pretty  hard  to  stop. 


222  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

This  is  a  question  that  is  to  be  settled  by  evidence,  and 
that  evidence  I  intend,  as  far  as  time  will  allow  me,  to  present 
before  you  this  evening.  It  has  been  said  very  lately,  if  you 
will  permit  me  to  be  so  personal  for  a  moment,  that  I  was 
never  before  put  down.  It  has  been  recorded  in  a  most  re- 
spectable paper  of  this  town  that  the  other  evening  I  was  put 
down.  A  reverend  reporter  for  that  paper,  as  I  am  very  cred- 
ibly informed  he  is,  states  that  I  was  stamped  down,  that  I  was 
hissed  down.  Well,  now,  it  is  true  that  while  I  was  down  I 
was  kept  down  by  that  kind  of  operation,  whether  to  my  own 
glory  or  to  the  glory  of  those  who  used  the  means  it  is  not  for 
me  to  say.  I  was  stamped  down,  I  was  hissed  down;  but  I 
can  truly  say  that  neither  myself  nor  my  friends,  at  any  time, 
in  this  community,  have  resorted  to  stamping  down  or  hissing 
down.  We  have  always  been  perfectly  willing  to  listen  with 
respect.  We  have  not  stamped ;  we  have  not  groaned ;  we 
have  not  hooted,  nor  whistled,  nor  hissed,  to  stop  any  sort  of 
man,  drunk  or  sober,  from  expressing  an  idea,  or  a  fragment 
of  an  idea,  if  he  happened  to  have  any  such  about  him.  For 
myself,  I  never  was  put  down  before;  and  I  have  met,  in  this 
very  place,  the  drunken  mob,  the  profane  mob,  the  street  mob, 
the  "old  court-house"  mob,  the  political  mob,  furious  mobs  of 
every  description.  With  these  I  have  always  got  along  with 
tolerable  satisfaction. 

It  then  must  be  taken  for  granted  that  this  was  a  very  dif- 
ferent mob,  and  so  it  was.  Why  this,  my  friends,  was  not  a 
profane  mob,  nor  a  street  mob,  nor  a  political  mob,  nor  a 
court-house  mob,  nor  a  brutal  mob;  this  was  a  colonization 
mob.  This  was  not  a  sacrilegious  mob;  this  was  a  holy  mob, 
this  was  a  dignified  mob  [laughter],  this  was  a  colonization 
mob.  [Applause  and  laughter.]  I  do  not  want  anybody  to 
stamp  but  a  deacon.  [Continued  laughter.]  I  say  in  the  dis- 
tinguished opposition  sat  an  eminent  clergyman  with  heels, 
hands  and  head  going;  at  a  little  distance  off,  a  little  further 
from  the  platform,  sat  the  starry  lights  of  the  colonization  dig- 
nitaries, Olympian  Jove  in  the  centre,  and  all  the  lesser  divini- 
ties around  about  him.  There  they  sat  in  dignity  while  groans 
and  hisses,  and  whistling,  and  squealing,  and  other  such  noises, 
were  going-  on  around  them.     A  little  further  along  there  were 


ANTI-COLONIZATION.  223 

the  ruling  elders,  the  leaders  of  the  pious  societies  and  com- 
panies,— there  they  were,  stamping  and  clapping;  and  a  little 
further  from  them  were  the  boys  and  young  men.  These  were 
lifting  up  the  benches  and  letting  them  fall  again,  to  keep  up 
the  noise;  and  at  the  very  tail  end  was  the  poor  ragged  rab- 
ble, that  were  in  unison  with  the  rest,  head,  neck,  heart  and 
body.  These  were  the  sanctified  ones  of  the  colonization  so- 
ciety. There  I,  poor  man,  was  down  on  the  broad  of  my  back, 
it  is  true.  I  had  to  be  still,  for  the  most  part,  and  the  further 
I  went  the  worse  it  got.  The  question  I  was  particularly  de- 
sirous to  ask  was,  Who  is  authorized  to  explain  the  doctrines 
and  principles  of  colonization?  There  stood  the  reverend  or- 
ator; he  gave  me  no  quarter,  he  would  answer  not  my  ques- 
tion, Who  is  the  person  to  expound  the  principles  of  coloni- 
zation? We  are  told  that  Henry  Clay  was  not,  and  I,  in  the 
sincerity  of  my  soul,  wanted  to  know.  I  have  asked  again 
and  again  who  is  prepared  and  authorized  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion; to  tell  us  what  colonization  is;  what  its  principles  are. 
Who?  I  ask,  Who?  Echo  answers,  Who?  And  I  presume 
we  never  shall  know  who  is  to  tell  us  the  meaning  of  coloni- 
zation. It  is  a  matter  of  testimony,  and  we  want  to  know  be- 
fore we  can  be  decided.  You  may  ask  what  my  religion  is, 
and  I  can  tell  you;  but  you  do  not  go  to  Matthew,  Mark, 
Luke,  John,  Peter  and  Paul,  in  this  matter.  [Laughter.] 
There  is  no  such  mark  that  has  been  revealed  yet,  but  the 
thing  is  good;  it  is  unexceptionably  right,  and  there  can  be 
no  mistake.     And  this  is  all  we  know  about  it. 

I  am  now  going  to  examine  very  briefly  the  testimony  of 
Bishop  Scott.  I  suppose  most  of  you  have  read  it;  and  it  was 
said  in  that  testimony  that  "all  positions  taken  by  those  in  op- 
position to  me  were  right,  and  those  positions  taken  by  me 
were  wrong."  Now,  for  the  Bishop.  I  have  no  doubt  at  all 
that  he  was  an  upright  and  truthful  man.  If  I  am  not  sincere, 
he  will  tell  you;  you  will  find  it  out.  But  these  Bishops  are 
very  ecclesiastical  men,  and  those  that  are  the  most  devoted 
among  them  are  the  most  ecclesiastical.  There  are  some  ex- 
ceptions, however.  There  is  the  Right  Reverend  Alonzo  Pot- 
ter, a  man  remarkable  for  his  general  knowledge  and  liberal 
principles,  and  for  piety.     And  there  is  my  good  friend,  Bishop 


2  24  REV-  SAMUEL    AARON. 

Paine,  with  his  poor  little  flock  about  him,  against  which  the 
wolves  howl  and  yell  terribly.  Bishop  Scott  acknowledges,  at 
least,  his  incompetence  to  speak  in  this  matter.  And  now 
just  hear  him.  [The  speaker  here  reads  from  the  testimony 
referred  to,  at  the  same  time  making  remarks  on  certain  pas- 
sages.] Haven't  I  got  him  here,  hooped  up?  You  do  not 
suppose  I'm  blaming  the  Bishop,  do  you?  I  know  but  little 
about  him.  He  tells  us  he  never  was  ashore  but  once. 
He  went  there  and  came  away,  and  I  guess  that  was  two 
days.  That  was  the  only  time  that  he  was  ashore.  I  say  put 
on  a  Bishop's  ecclesiastical  dress,  and  send  him  here  to  Nor- 
ristown  upon  an  ecclesiastical  errand,  and  I  say  he  can't  find 
out  much.  He  ought  to  come  here  to-night  to  learn  human 
nature.  But  he  is  among  the  good  men,  the  good  clergy,  the 
good  ladies;  among  the  pious  people.  What  does  he  know 
about  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry,  and  all  those  who  make  up  the 
bone  and  muscle  of  society?  It  is  not  in  him  to  know.  [Reads 
again.]  Well,  now,  the  Bishop  does  not  believe  that  domestic 
slavery  exists  there.  Why,  you  might  go  down,  as  a  Bishop, 
into  the  Southern  states,  and  come  to  the  sage  conclusion  that 
Mississippi  and  Alabama  were  the  very  seventh  heaven  of 
negro  bliss — they  would  use  you  there  so  well.  "  My  dear 
sir,  how  have  you  been?  I  am  extremely  glad  to  see  you. 
It  does  my  soul  good  to  see  a  man  of  God  among  us,  and  I 
have  great  satisfaction  and  great  comfort  in  your  society." 
They  don't  go  out  to  see  what  is  going  on  among  the  poor 
blacks.  It  would  ruffle  their  robes,  it  would  hurt  their  feel- 
ings, it  would  distress  them,  if  they  were  to  come  in  contact 
with  such  things  as  these.  [Reads  again,  and  speaks  of  the 
blacks  in  connection  with  schools  and  churches.]  It  is  not, 
after  all,  the  law  or  the  rule  that  makes  the  objection ;  it  is  the 
prejudice,  it  is  the  feeling,  it  is  the  contempt. 

There  are  churches  even  here  where  they  cannot  go,  they 
are  so  holy;  the  men  in  them  so  holy;  in  the  churches  where 
the  colored  man  cannot  come.  They  have  a  hatred  against 
this  poor  people,  whom  they  regard  as  a  caste,  a  down-trodden 
race,  and  whom  they  think  it  true  glory  to  trample  upon. 
Friendless,  alone,  oppressed,  injured  by  our  government;  all 
its  power  at  work,  particularly  at  this  time,  to  outrage  them ; 


ANTI-COLONIZATION.  225 

therefore  they  are  not  allowed  to  come  into  their  churches. 
[Reads.] 

He  tells  us  in  another  report  that  there  is  not  a  single 
public  school  in  the  whole  colony  of  Liberia,  yet  they  are 
better  of,  have  better  advantages,  than  in  this  country.  Have 
not  we  got  a  public  school  in  this  town,  a  respectable  colored 
school  here,  where  they  may  be  instructed  in  the  branches  of 
useful  knowledge,  and  where  they  may  even  learn  the  Latin 
language.  Yet  the  Bishop  tells  us  they  are  better  provided 
for  in  that  country,  there  where  there  are  no  public  schools, 
than  they  are  in  these  very  states,  here  where  they  are  among 
schools.  And  in  these'  very  states  there  are  colleges,  too, 
where  colored  women  and  colored  men  may  go  and  get  an 
education,  bad  as  we  are.  And  yet  the  Bishop  tells  us  they 
arc  too  poor  to  obtain  their  own  schooling;  and  if  there  is  any 
school  at  all,  it  is  kept  by  Methodist  missionaries  who  are  sent 
there.     Yet  they  are  better  off  there. 

I  might  have  said  a  word  about  the  post-offices.  A  man 
may  go  there  and  write  a  letter,  and  it  may  not  be  interfered 
with  in  the  post-office;  it  may  come  safely  through.  Do  you 
think  that  letter  written  for  the  ignorant  black  man,  who  sits 
by,  not  knowing  what  its  contents  are,  think  you  that  the# 
authorities  of  Liberia  would  undertake  to  stop  that  letter? 
Oh,  no;  it  is  the  poor  people;  these  are  the  ones  that  feel 
that  pressure.  The  Bishop's  letters  go  free;  and  that  is  a 
proof,  as  strong  as  holy  writ,  that  there  is  no  overbearing  . 
power  poured  upon  the  wronged  and  the  unhappy. 

It  is  no  proof  for  me.  [Refers  again  to  the  testimony.] 
He  could  not  go  ashore  one  single  night  for  fear  he  would  be 
taken  sick  and  his  mission  should  not  be  carried  out.  He 
says  "I  cannot  answer  as  to  the  provision."  This,  one  of  our 
worthy  ladies  certified,  that  "the  officers  of  the  government 
did  use  surreptitiously  the  good  provisions  and  give  them  bad 
and  damaged  food."  He  says,  "  I  cannot  answer  as  to  the 
provision;  officers  may  sometimes  look  after  their  own  inter- 
ests, just  as  they  do  in  this  country."  Maybe  they  do ;  don't 
know;  let  that  pass.  [Quotes  further.]  "There  is  no  ab- 
straction that  I  know  of."  Poor  soul!  I  will  just  leave  him 
in  your  hands,  but  do  not  take  him  about  your  heels,  take 


2  26  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

him  to  your  brains  and  use  him  well.  [Reads.]  The  custom 
is  to  bribe  these  poor  people,  and  give  them  a  pretty  good 
share  of  rum,  and  then  they  will  listen,  and  then  they  say,  "  he 
good  man ;  he  fine  man."  [Testimony  concerning  the  doc- 
trines inculcated.]  There  is  the  testimony  of  the  Bishop,  and 
I  leave  it  for  reasonable  men  to  consider  and  say  whether  it  is 
at  all  calculated  to  promote  the  religion  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus;  a  religion  which  I  love;  in  which  my  hope  and  joy 
are  based. 

I  am  now  going  to  turn  to  some  more  testimony.  Re- 
member, my  friends,  this  is  only  testimony,  and  it  is  my  busi- 
ness to  show  that  it  is  an  invalid  testimony.  [Here  he  speaks 
of  the  testimony  of  Thomas  Morris  Chester.]  Cheap  servants 
there;  nothing  to  wear;  don't  have  to  put  anything  on  them, 
you  know  [laughter] ;  very  cheap.  Now  I  thought  that  this 
young  man  told  such  a  beautiful  and  rose-colored  story  that 
I  would  like  to  hear  further  about  him,  so  I  wrote  to  a  gentle- 
man in  Harrisburg.  A  brave  and  fearless,  upright,  noble 
man.  Oh,  I  must  not  praise  him  too  much  or  else  I  will  catch 
the  infection.  I  wrote  to  them  to  tell  me  something  about 
this  Thomas  Morris  Chester.  [He  here  read  the  letter  that 
was  received  in  answer  to  his  inquiries.]  It  is  almost  two 
sides  to  the  story,  isn't  it?  Well,  now  we  are  told  that  that 
gentleman  is  soon  to  appear  here  on  this  platform  to  enlighten 
us.  I  learn  further  from  Mr.  James  Miller  McKim,  whose 
veracity  no  man  dare  impeach.  I  spoke  to  him  about  this 
famous  Thomas  Morris  Chester ;  he  went  away  and  got  his 
"Ledger";  his  "Pennsylvania  Freeman"  ledger;  he  opened 
it  and  showed  me  that  he  had  sent  for  the  paper,  and  had  re- 
ceived it  two  years,  and  had  not  paid  one  cent  of  his  subscrip- 
tion. This  is  the  gentleman  that  is  to  be  here  to  enlighten 
you. 

The  next  subject  we  come  to  is  a  remarkable  man.  My 
friend  was  scolding  me  for  having  so  many  documents  here. 
We  have  had  a  great  deal  without  documents;  we  now  must 
make  free  use  of  them.  There  has  been  something  said  about 
me  being  a  "bumping  buck."  [Laughter.]  Now,  you  know, 
I  am  as  gentle  as  a  lamb;  I  never  yet  delivered  a  "coloniza- 
tion" lecture.     We  have  had  here  a  most  distinguished  orator 


ANTI-COLONIZATION.  227 

(counts  the  lectures  delivered);  he  has  given  nine  bumps  to 
my  one;  and  if  there  is  any  "bumping  buck,"  I  think  some- 
body else  had  better  take  it  on  his  horns  besides  me.  [Laugh- 
ter.] My  head  must  be  very  hard  and  my  horns  very  sharp 
to  resist  them.  [Slight  confusion  and  attempted  applause.] 
No!  no!  none  but  the  ruling  elders.  Don't  want  common 
people  to  stamp.  [Laughter.]  If  there  are  any  clergy  among 
you,  you  may  stamp.  There  are  two  constables  here.  [Laugh- 
ter.]    [Here  he  reads  a  document  on  colonization.] 

We  are  told  on  still  higher  authority  than  this,  gentle- 
men, that  "the  slave  trade  had  been  exterminated  for  three 
thousand  miles  upon  the  African  coast."  This  had  been  ac- 
complished by  this  "  Liberian  Colony" ;  not  quite  so  big,  and 
certainly  not  so  rich,  as  Norristown.  This  gentleman  says, 
"if  the  American  squadron  should  be  taken  away" — remem- 
ber he  is  the  commander  of  it — "then  the  slave  trade  would 
be  renewed  and  extended."  These  don't  exactly  agree;  but 
great  men  differ.  I  desired  the  name  of  this  gentleman.  I 
civilly  asked,  Will  the  speaker  be  §0  kind  as  to  tell  me  the 
name  of  the  gentleman?  I  was  referred  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy;  and  by  writing  to  him  I  could  probably  find  out. 
Well,  that  brought  down  a  roar,  a  hissing  and  stamping,  while 
every  man  in  that  assembly,  poor  soul,  could  say  "pease."  I 
still  insisted  upon  my  question  being  answered.  At  length  it 
came  out,  "Isaac  Mayho."  Yes,  Isaac  Mayho.  Now  we  have 
him.  The  business  he  follows  is  rearing  slaves  and  selling 
them  off  to  the  highest  bidder.  This  man  might  well  say  that 
he  wished  to  suppress  the  foreign  slave  trade,  because  he  is 
the  most  interested  in  the  domestic  slave  trade.  This  is  the 
man,  as  I  learned  from  gentlemen  in  Philadelphia,  who  is  a 
drunken,  brutal  rowdy  and  a  ruffian.  This  Isaac  Mayho 
But  you  need  not  wonder  that  such  men  are  employed  by  the 
government.  Mrs.  Stovve,  that  excellent  authority  that  was 
quoted  and  dwelt  upon  here  so  eloquently,  declares  that  "this 
domestic  slave  breeding"  (she  calls  it  breeding)  amounts  to 
eighty  thousand  slaves  that  are  bred  for  market  every  year. 
Then  talk  about  the  slave  trade  on  the  African  coast.  Now, 
hiss!  the  own  shame  and  love  of  your  country. 


2  28  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

I  love  my  country.  I  tell  my  country  of  her  wrongs.  I 
do  not  first  throw  myself  into  the  hands  of  the  North,  and  then 
into  the  hands  of  the  South.  I  love  the  truth,  and  will  stand 
on  it  and  die  by  it,  to  the  end.  [He  now  refers  to  a  letter 
from  C.  Morris.]  He  is  a  first-rate  man,  kind  of  Quaker  Epis- 
copalian; was  bred  a  Quaker,  and  became  an  Episcopal  min- 
ister. Such  a  man  can't  be  beat,  I  take  it.  [Laughter.]  He 
married  a  slaveholder's  daughter,  and  to  his  infinite  credit  be 
it  spoken,  as  soon  as  his  father-in-law  died,  the  will  favored  Dr. 
Morris,  and  the  whole  family  agreed  that  they  would  set  free 
all  their  slaves.  The  slaves  of  Mr.  Justin,  of  Maryland,  were 
then  set  free;  he  was  a  near  neighbor  of  Mayho.  [Speaks  of 
Richard  Neal.  Gives  an  account  of  an  affair  in  which  Neal 
and  his  family  were  the  sufferers.] 

Now,  let  us  have  Robert  Cushman.  He  says,  "As  to 
the  slave  trade  being  completely  extirpated  by  the  Republic 
of  Liberia,  there  is  no  man  under  the  heaven  that  believes  it; 
that  thing  is  impossible.  Is  there  a  man  among  us  here  who 
believes  that  that  little  colony  can  drive  off  the  slave  trade 
from  the  coast  of  Africa  ?  The  power  of  England  could  not 
do  it.  Where  is  the  reverend  gentleman  to-night?  Does  he 
believe  it?  No!  no!  no!  It  can't  be  done.  The  whole  na- 
val force  of  the  Republic  consists  of  one  man-of-war — a 
schooner,  and  that  was  presented  by  Queen  Victoria.  Now, 
Queen  Victoria  recognizes  this  government.  She  also  recog- 
nizes the  mosquito  government,  Guatemala.  It  is  said  there 
are  two  sloops,  of  two  guns  each.  No  one  of  these  vessels 
would  be  capable  of  contending  with  a  slaver  as  ordinarily 
equipped.  Do  you  believe  this  squadron  capable  of  extirpat- 
ing the  trade  from  a  coast  three  thousand  miles  in  extent? 
You  can't  believe;  you  dare  not  say  it.  The  slave  trade  is 
carried  on  there. 

Lieutenant  Forbes  talked  about  that.  Dr.  Bacon  talked 
about  that,  and  he  published  it  in  his  own  paper;  and  he  pub- 
lished it  when  Governor  Roberts  was  in  New  York,  and  he 
did  it  because  they  were  about,  and  he  said  to  them,  "  Con- 
tradict, if  you  dare."  They  didn't  do  it.  [He  referred  to  a 
letter  from  Lewis  Tappan.]  This  gentleman  says  that  slaves 
can  be  purchased  from  the  natives  for  articles  of  goods  worth 


ANTI-COLONIZATION.  2  29 

four  or  five  dollars.  Now,  you  may  call  them  slaves,  or  some- 
thing else.  I  say  slavery  is  this:  Suppose  you  catch  me,  and 
put  me  in  the  power  of  my  friend  Hooven — and,  by  the  way, 
he  is  about  as  good  a  master  as  I  would  wish  to  have — you 
put  me  in  his  power;  then  I  am  his.  You  may  give  me  a 
gold  watch  and  chain,  if  you  like;  but  they  don't  do  that  there. 
Put  a  few  clothes  on  them  and  sell  them  for  five  dollars  each. 
[He  here  quotes  Cushman.]  He  says  the  slaves  are  cruelly 
treated.  The  instrument  of  torture  is  a  whip  containing  a 
number  of  large  lashes  with  knots  on  the  ends.  With  these 
the  slaves  are  scourged  on  their  bare  backs,  until,  in  some 
places,  the  flesh  is  laid  open  in  large  gashes.  Now,  you  may 
call  them  slaves  or  not;  I  don't  care  what  you  call  them.  The 
slaves,  it  is  said,  are  in  a  degraded  condition.  They  go  to 
church  and  are  made  to  sit  outside  of  the  door;  and  if  they 
go  inside  to  sit  on  the  floor.  [Refers  to  Cushman.]  It  is  a 
slaughter  house;  it  is  a  place  of  skulls.  [The  speaker  here 
called  upon  a  gentleman  present,  Mr.  Robert  Purvis,  to  bear 
witness  to  a  certain  fact.]  He  said,  "  My  friend  has  called 
upon  me,  and  I  have  to  say  that  John  B.  Russell,  who  was 
President  of  the  Colony  after  the  auspices  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society,  said,  that  the  once  colonial  Secretary  of 
Liberia,  the  editor  of  the  'Dingy  Sheet,'  stood  convicted  in 
the  court  for  having  facilitated  the  trade  in  slaves  in  that 
colony."  [Mr.  A.  continues.]  To  throw  such  masses  of 
ignorance  and  barbarity  upon  a  foreign  shore  is  both  cruel 
and  wicked.  Who  are  these  men?  These  people  are  said  to 
be  so  degraded.  We  are  told  that  they  are  the  worst  race  on 
the  earth.  One  of  the  worst  races  upon  the  earth.  That  they 
are  incapable  of  being  reached  by  Christianity.  Will  salt 
water  purify  them?  Make  a  heaven  out  of  Liberia.  Now,  I 
do  not  believe  that  they  are  a  worse  race  than  some  of  the 
rest  of  us.  They  are  my  brethren;  I  hold  them  as  such;  I 
mean  to  treat  them  as  such  if  these  colonizationists  will  let 
me.  [Reads  from  another  document  in  reference  to  a  Presby- 
terian Board  of  Missionaries  sent  out  to  Liberia.]  "I  have 
heard  it  said  here  that  there  have  been  slaves  shipped  out  of 
this  colony  for  the  last  year,  and  many  emancipated  slaves 
have  died  from  the  force  of  the  climate,"  etc. 


23O  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

I  think  I  have  cut  out  a  little  more  work  than  I  can  sew 
up  to-night,  and  it  is  now  nine  o'clock.  [Cries  of  Go  on !  go 
on!]  Now  I  do  not  know,  but  you  may  be  in  a  pretty  good 
humor  to-night;  it  is  not  often  that  I  please  people.  I  always 
had  politicians  on  my  back,  but  I  have  generally  succeeded 
in  getting  along  somehow.  Now,  when  I  heard  of  the  colony 
of  Liberia  emancipating  eight  hundred  thousand  slaves ;  when 
I  heard  all  that,  I  felt  a  little  wicked.     I  did.     I  went  to   Mr. 

S and  said  that  was  not  true.     Said  he,  "  It  is.     I  will  take 

my  oath  upon  it."  "I  will  too."  "Your  oath  isn't  good  for 
much."     "  It's  as  good  as  yours."     [Laughter  and  confusion.] 

Well,  it  went  on.     I  went  up  to  Mr.  J .    Said  I,  Mr.  J , 

that  is  an  infernal  falsehood.  I  said  it  in  a  whisper.  It  was 
an  ugly  word  for  me.  Paul  spoke  more  dignified.  Paul  said, 
"O  full  of  all  subtlety  and  all  mischief,  thou  child  of  the  devil, 
thou  enemy  of  all  righteousness,  wilt  thou  not  cease  to  per- 
vert the  right  ways  of  the  Lord."  That  is  what  Paul  said. 
I  went  the  other  way.  [Laughter.]  Now,  I  hope  you  will 
forgive  me;  it  was  an  ugly  expression,  and  was  not  made  in 
public. 

Now  I  come  to  the  notes  of  the  reverend  reporter  in  a 
neighboring  paper.  He  states  that  "the  closing  scene,  on  a 
certain  occasion,  was  one  of  great  excitement."  He  says, 
"Such  was  the  decided  victory  achieved  by  the  champion  of 
colonization,  and  so  fully  convinced  were  the  people,  that  Mr. 
A.  was  not  allowed  to  say  one  single  word,  but  was  stamped 
and  hissed  down."  Stamped  and  hissed  down!  "Whenever 
he  arose  to  speak,"  he  continues,  "nine  cheers  were  given  to 
the  side  that  he  favored  and  three  groans  were  given  to  me." 
"That  was  a  defeat,"  he  declared,  "that  he  never  had  in  Nor- 
ristown  before."  That  is  true.  I  got  it.  It  is  a  wonder  I  sur- 
vived it.  We  will  pass  on.  The  reverend  gentleman  gives 
me  a  little  tickle  because  I  would  not  continue  the  debate.  He 
says  I  was  scared.  Evidently,  and  in  fact,  I  was.  When  I 
heard  about  the  three  thousand  miles  of  coast,  and  that  eight 
hundred  thousand  people  had  been  emancipated  in  three  years, 
— that  had  been  emancipated  by  the  Liberian  colony;  and  when 
I  heard  other  things,  I  declare  I  was  scared.  Like  Randolph 
with  his  history.     A  fight  occurred  in  the  street;   on  making 


ANTI-COLONIZATION.  23 1 

inquiry  about  it  he  was  told  so  many  different  stories  that  he 
said,  "If  that  is  the  history,  I  am  done  with  it;  I  am  done 
writing  history."  Well,  this  was  a  signal  defeat.  My  dear 
friends,  it  was  very  much  like  the  defeat  of  the  Apostle  Paul 
at  the  city  of  Ephesus.  He  went  to  make  a  speech,  and  the 
people  gathered  in  a  great  multitude  to  hear  him.  He  tried 
to  push  his  way  into  the  theatre.  Great  man!  great  man! 
And  when  the  people  heard  him  they  were  full  of  wrath,  and 
cried  out,  saying,  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians.  Paul  was 
defeated,  hissed,  hooted,  and  stamped  down.  [Laughter.] 
[Reads  further  from  the  report.] 

Now  we  come  to  another  point.  "  Mr.  A.  denied  that  the 
British  government  imposed  the  slaves  upon  the  colonists  of 
this  country."  I  will  tell  you  what  Mr.  A.  did.  He  attempted 
to  ridicule  the  expression  that  the  British  government  forced 
the  slaves  upon  the  colonists.  [He  here  spoke  of  the  "tea" 
and  of  the  "stamp"  act]  He  remarked  that  he  brought  for- 
ward the  two  best  histories  of  the  United  States  to  show  that 
a  Dutch  ship  in  1620  brought  slaves  to  the  port  of  Jamestowm ; 
and  also  admitted  that  other  ships  brought  them  in,  and  that 
the  settlers  brought  those  slaves  because  they  were  too  lazy 
to  work  themselves,  and  they  were  not  forced.  That  is  what 
I  said,  and  who  dares  deny  it?  Not  a  soul  of  you!  [Reads 
a  clause  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.]  [Judge 
Story.]  Now,  what  is  this  movement  for, — all  this  about  the 
British  forcing  slaves  upon  us,  and  our  government  being  the 
first  to  drive  down  the  African  slave  trade?  What  does  this 
mean?  It  means,  my  friends  and  fellow-citizens,  a  contempti- 
ble apology.  Our  fathers  did  right  and  nobly  in  some  re- 
spects; and  their  sons  are  trampling  upon  every  right  of  man, 
every  claim  of  God,  and  every  principle  of  benevolence  and 
reason.  These  people,  what  are  they  doing?  They  are  now 
coming  upon  us  of  the  North  and  trampling  upon  us,  sweep- 
ing away  the  solemn  contracts  like  the  cobweb,  breaking  in 
upon  the  "old  thirteen,"  and  determined  to  plant  slavery  all 
over  the  country.  These  are  to  be  apologized  to,  not  for  what 
they  have  done  but  for  what  their  fathers  have  done.  That  is 
the  argument,  this  the  object.  Colonization  began  with  slave- 
holders and  their  apologists.      Amer.  Enc,  Vol.  Ill,  328. — 


232  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

"A  caste  (composed  of  the  free  blacks)  is  formed  in  the  state, 
below  the  salutary  influence  of  public  opinion,  cut  off  from  all 
hope  of  improving  their  condition,  degraded,  ignorant,  and 
vicious  themselves,  and  leaving  the  same  legacy  of  humiliation 
and  shame  to  their  children.  A  common  descent  and  color 
unite  them  to  the  slaves,  and  render  them  the  fit  agents  for 
fomenting  insurrection  among  them.  On  this  account  they 
have  become  objects  of  suspicion  and  alarm  in  the  slave-hold- 
ing states,  and  the  owners  of  slaves  consider  it  impolitic  and 
dangerous  to  emancipate  their  negroes,  since  they  contribute 
to  increase  the  strength  of  a  dangerous  class."  This  state  of 
things  gave  rise  to  the  colonization  society. 

"So  early  as  1777  the  plan  was  proposed  by  Jefferson  in 
the  Legislature  of  Virginia." — Judge  Jay.  December  23, 
1 8 1 6,  the  Legislature  of  Virginia  passed  a  resolution  request- 
ing the  Governor  to  correspond  with  the  President  of  the 
United  States  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  territory  on  the 
coast  of  Africa  to  serve  as  an  asylum  for  such  persons  of  color 
as  are  now  free  and  may  desire  the  same,  and  for  those  who 
may  hereafter  be  emancipated.  Henry  Clay  said:  "This  cause 
proposes  to  rid  our  own  country  of  a  useless  and  pernicious 
if  not  a  dangerous  population,  and  contemplates  the  spreading 
of  the  arts  of  civilized  life  and  the  possible  redemption  from 
ignorance  and  barbarism  of  a  benighted  quarter  of  the  globe." 
Dr.  Finley,  according  to  Mr.  P.,  urged  three  great  objects: 
First,  to  rid  ourselves  of  the  free  blacks;  second,  to  benefit 
them;  third,  to  benefit  Africa.  Mr.  P.  showed  that  the  dispo- 
sition to  emancipate  is  not  so  great  as  it  was  a  few  years  ago. 
He  said:  "The  Legislature  of  Virginia  a  few  years  ago  came 
very  near  abolishing  slavery  altogether  from  the  state,  and 
would  have  done  it  long  since  had  it  not  been  for  the  radico- 
politico  Abolitionists  who  entered  the  state,  and  with  their 
fiery  speeches  and  incendiary  documents  excited  the  slaves  to 
thoughts  of  blood  and  murder,  and  to  a  fearful  extent  were  in- 
strumental in  bringing  about  the  Southampton  massacre.  And 
who  has  not  heard  of  that  fearful  tragedy?  Mr.  P.  showed 
that  the  matter  could  not  be  denied;  there  it  stood  in  charac- 
ters of  blood,  and  all  might  read.  Colonization  was  there  as 
an  angel  of  mercy,  spreading  out  her  balmy  wings  to  shelter 


ANTI-COLONIZATION.  233 

and  protect  the  poor  negro,  and  was  well  nigh  bringing  about 
his  liberty.  But  the  dark-winged  demon  of  rabid  abolition- 
ism came  and  dashed  from  his  hand  the  cup  of  liberty  he  was 
about  to  sip,  and  riveted  upon  him  much  more  tightly  the 
chains  of  his  bondage.  Colonization  has  many  characters.  It 
makes  love  to  the  great  ones  of  the  earth,  and  tramples  and 
crushes  the  weak.  But  abolition  is  plain,  straightforward  and 
fearless. 


Mr.  Aaron  left  notes  only  of  the  preceding  speech.     The  above  was  written 
out  by  a  reporter. 


COLONIZATION. 
To  a  Local  Journal. 

Mr.  Editor — The  Rev.  R.  R.  Gurley,  the  most  eminent 
advocate  of  African  colonization  for  more  than  thirty  years, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Quay,  the  present  agent  of  the  Pennsylvania 
branch  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  addressed  a  pub- 
lic meeting  in  the  largest  church  in  Norristown  on  Monday 
evening,  the  16th  inst.,  after  public  notice  given  in  the  churches 
the  day  before.  I  attended,  expecting  a  house  full  of  listeners 
as  earnest  as  myself.  From  fifty  to  sixty  persons  were  pres- 
ent, and  many  of  them  were  Abolitionists  of  the  various  stripes 
of  that  original  and  unmanageable  portion  of  society.  I  heard 
the  conclusion  of  a  prayer,  delivered  in  cadences  so  deadly 
deep  and  dull  as  are  seldom  used  when  a  man  wants  anything. 
It  was  stated,  not  prayed,  that  "  God  had  made  of  one  blood  all 
nations  of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  had 
appointed  the  bounds  of  their  habitation,"  etc.  This  last  clause 
with  some  emphasis,  as  if  to  show  that  the  American  Coloni- 
zation Society  had  to  help  fix  the  localities  for  fear  of  mistake. 

Samuel  Aaron. 


AN   ADDRESS 

Delivered  by  Mr.  Aaron  on  Sunday,  July  8,  1855. 


AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE  AND  INSTITUTIONS. 


Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people. — Solomon. 

American  Independence,  its  antecedent  causes  and  sub- 
sequent effects,  must  remain  to  the  orator  and  the  sage,  not 
merely  a  flowery  but  a  fruitful  theme  for  ages  to  come.  The 
waking  up,  three  hundred  years  ago,  of  the  human  intellect  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  that  Heavenly  vision,  the  vision  of  personal 
and  rational  freedom,  freedom  for  the  body  and  freedom  for 
the  soul — a  vision  which  the  human  heart  had  for  thousands 
of  years  panted  to  realize,  but  which  mistaken  priests  and  ty- 
rant kings  had  taught  to  be  impossible  on  earth — was  the 
dawn,  the  earliest  gleam  of  that  glorious  liberty  which  crowns 
this  Western  World. 

The  loud  shout  of  the  nations  that  answered  to  the  battle 
cry  of  Luther,  was  the  morning  song  of  freedom;  the  whirl- 
winds of  revolution  and  war  that  swept  over  all  civilized  lands 
for  two  centuries,  were  like  the  breath  of  God  to  cleanse  the 
seed  of  righteous  principles  and  waft  it  hither  to  be  planted  in 
this  Western  wilderness. 

The  harrowing  power  of  British  pride  and  tyranny,  which 
meant  to  tear  out  the  roots  of  human  hope,  that  had  been 
watered  with  Pilgrim  tears  along  our  Western  Atlantic  border, 
only  served  to  give  them  a  deeper,  healthier  grasp  of  Free- 
dom's chosen  soil. 

But,  to  speak  without  a  figure  of  the  great  preliminaries 
which  prepared  mankind  for  the  vast  experiment  now  making 
on  this  Western  Continent  by  the  mingled  tribes  of  men,  to 
urge  on  human  progress  and  develop  human  destiny. 


AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  235 

Three  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago,  Martin  Luther  said, 
"We  will  believe  in  and  worship  God  alone;  we  will  look  for 
His  justifying  favor,  and  the  eternal  joys  of  His  salvation  to 
the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ;    His  Bible  shall  remain  no  longer 
in  an  unknown  language,  chained  to  the  rostrum  of  a  Popish 
Bishop,  with  its  lids  padlocked  together;    it  shall  be  written 
in   the   mother  tongue  of  every  nation,  spread   open   before 
every  eye;  aye,  and  every  man  and  every  woman  shall  in  the 
light  of  conscience  and  of  reason  be  the  sole,  exclusive  judge 
of  the  doctrines  which  it  teaches,  and  the  duties  it  imposes, 
accountable   to   God   alone    for   mistakes   and   disobedience." 
"Amen!  Amen!!"  shouted  the  sturdy  toilers  of  Germany,  the 
yeomanry  of  England,  and  the  lively  artisans  of  France !  "No," 
growled  the  Pope ;  "  I  will  sooner  burn  you  all  with  the  timber 
of  your  forests,  or  beneath  the  thatches  of  your  own  hovels. 
I  will  burn  you  in  a  transient,  present  blaze,  and  then  hurl  you 
into  a  future,  everlasting  fire!     My  voice  is  the  voice  of  God. 
I  hold  the  keys  of  earth  and  heaven.     All,  from  the  prince  on 
the  throne  to  the  beggar  in  the  straw,  shall   put  their   souls 
into  my  hand,  and  cleanse  their  consciences  by  my  absolu- 
tion."    "  Even  so,"  responded  the  Emperor  of  Germany ;  "  my 
sword  of  steel  shall  bring  all  under  the  staff  of  Peter,  or  cut 
them  in  pieces."     "  Not   the   people  of  my  dominions,"  said 
Frederick  of  Saxony;  "they  are  growing  intelligent  and  fit  to 
think  for  themselves  in  religion,  and  may  do  so,  provided  they 
obey  my  laws."     "But,"  rejoined   the   people   themselves,   at 
last,  "if  Luther  be  right  as  to  the  divine  beneficence  provid- 
ing food  for  each  individual  soul,  we  think  it  follows  that  he 
meant  a  little  more  for  our  starving  bodies  than  we  get,  and 
that  you  kings  and  princes  should  make  a  fairer  distribution." 
"  Be  quiet,"  said  the  Rulers  ;    "  the  people  must  obey  the  laws  ; 
the  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God !     He  that  resists  the 
king,  resists  the  deity."      "But,"  said  the  common  mass,  "the 
Ruler  is  only  legitimate  when  he  is  the  minister  of  God  for 
the  good  of  all;    a  terror  to  evil  workers,  and  the  praise  of 
them  that  do  well." 

Luther,  great  as  he  was,  now  inconsistent  with  his  own 
first  principles,  began  to  hush  into  a  slavish  apathy  the  people 
whom  he  had  roused.     "  Be  still,"  he  said ;  "  rest  satisfied  with 


2  2,6  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

the  bread  of  life,  and  mind  not  that  which  perishes."  "But," 
replied  the  outraged,  "Godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things, 
having  the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  also  of  that 
which  is  to  come!  You  have  taught  us  our  rights  spiritual; 
we  will  improve  on  your  suggestive  lessons,  and  look  after 
our  rights  natural."  Thus  loud  and  fierce  discussion  came, 
then  civil  and  bloody  war.  The  spirit  of  liberty,  defeated  in 
Germany,  but  not  slain,  escaped  into  France,  wounded  and 
bleeding,  and  roused  the  Huguenots  to  contend  in  a  bloody 
struggle  with  a  power  beyond  their  strength.  They  tri- 
umphed, however,  in  argument,  eloquence  and  wisdom;  and 
driven  from  their  native  land,  the  remnant  of  an  almost  uni- 
versal slaughter,  they  carried  their  principles  to  foreign  homes, 
and  a  few  found  a  refuge  on  these  wild  shores. 

But  liberty  kindled  her  warmest  fire  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
soul.  Her  sons  in  England  said,  "Let  us  limit  our  king;  let 
us  teach  him  that  he  is  only  our  minister;  a  magistrate  under 
the  people,  for  them,  rather  than  over  them."  Henry  the 
VIII.  thundered  in  reply,  "  I  will  be  both  Pope  and  King;  the 
fountain  of  law  and  gospel,  too."  He  was  fierce  and  persever- 
ing. The  people  quailed;  they  saw  the  light  at  a  distance, 
but  only  gazed  and  waited.  The  King,  however,  had  snapped 
the  chains  of  Popery,  and  thus  had  taught  that  monarchy, 
too,  a  weaker  power,  might  fall  by  a  bold  and  persevering 
hand.  He  died  furious,  though  broken-hearted,  that  mortals 
should  resist  his  will.  Then  Edward,  the  thoughtful  boy, 
wept  for  seven  years  over  the  havoc  of  slaughtered  martyrs, 
which  his  father's  fury  had  entailed  upon  him;  and  died,  too 
tender  to  endure  that  iron  age.  Then  came  the  bloody  Mary. 
A  bigot  herself,  she  must  needs  obtain,  by  her  own  courtship, 
a  Spanish  bigot  for  a  husband,  and  the  sanguinary  pair  de- 
termined to  carry  all  England  back  to  Rome.  She  would 
weld  in  the  fires  that  roasted  three  hundred  Protestants  the 
chain  which  Henry,  her  father,  had  broken,  and  which  had 
bound  her  people  to  the  Pope.  But  she  made  the  flame  too 
hot,  and  the  fetters  she  intended  to  fasten  were  only  melted  in 
the  blaze.  She  perished,  stricken  of  God,  and  cursed  by  man- 
kind. Men  thanked  heaven  that  she  was  gone,  and  took 
courage  for  the  young  tree  of  liberty,  when   even   she   could 


AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  237 

not  utterly  blast  it.  Then  followed  the  haughty  and  talented 
Elizabeth  in  a  reign  of  forty-five  years.  She  clearly  demon- 
strated that  an  imperious  Protestant  English  woman  could 
with  impunity  defy  the  Pope,  the  assumed  vice-gerent  of  the 
Almighty;  and  by  thus  trampling  on  the  tradition  of  Divine 
Right,  she  taught  mankind  to  follow  her  bold  example. 

Next  came  the  Stewarts  of  Scotland.  The  first  proved 
that  kings  are  not  always  born  with  brains,  and  lived  and  died 
an  object  of  contempt.  The  second  used  badly,  falsely  and 
rashly  what  brains  he  had,  and  lost  his  head,  a  royal  martyr, 
in  a  civilized  Christian  nation,  to  the  cause  of  perjury  and 
despotism.  The  men  who  doomed  him  to  die  were  mostly 
true  lovers  of  freedom,  and  cherished  her  growth  in  the  new 
world  of  America.  At  this  crisis  rose  Oliver  Cromwell,  the 
best  single  embodiment  of  a  sturdy  Englishman;  honest  in 
principle,  vigorous  in  mind,  steady  in  purpose,  unwearied  in 
toil,  and  fearless  in  execution.  He  proved  to  his  countrymen 
and  all  the  world,  that  a  man  may  be  born  to  rule,  to  make 
laws  and  to  enforce  them,  without  having  a  queen  for  his 
mother;  an  invaluable  lesson,  by  which  our  great  Republic 
has,  in  many  instances,  vastly  profited. 

Then,  in  the  reaction,  in  contrast  with  Cromwell,  the 
Puritan,  came  the  third  Stuart,  the  laughing,  revelling,  waste- 
ful, lying  Charles  II.,  as  if  to  show  mankind  how  inferior  is  gay 
folly  to  serious  wisdom. 

Last  of  this  race  was  James  the  II.,  a  monster  of  perfidy 
and  cruelty.  For  three  years  and  nine  months  he  swam,  on 
the  back  of  Jeffreys,  in  the  blood  of  Englishmen,  determined 
to  torture  his  Protestant  subjects  back  to  Popery,  and  to  sub- 
stitute blind  submission  for  free  enquiry.  But  then  the  land 
vomited  him  out,  and  from  that  day  forth,  Great  Britain,  with 
all  her  faults,  has  been  a  progressive,  reformatory  nation.  Let 
us  ever  remember  that  she  is  our  mother,  a  surly,  ungenial 
parent  to  be  sure;  but  still  the  mother  of  our  nature  and  our 
principles,  if  not  the  kind  nurse  of  our  weakness  and  infirmity. 
The  bravest  and  most  generous  of  her  sons  and  daughters 
have  been  the  actual  ancestors  of  our  noblest  men  and  women; 
and  every  throe  and  convulsive  agony  of  that  most  wonderful 
of  all  the  nations  brought  forth  children  of  liberty  to  be  reared 


238  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

in  this  nursery  of  political  and  moral  freedom.  The  warlike, 
fervent  Puritan,  who  sung  the  loud  praises  of  Jehovah,  God  of 
Hosts,  and  the  quiet,  unresisting  Quaker,  who  worshipped  in 
silence,  Immanual,  the  Prince  of  Peace,  all  sought  a  refuge 
here  from  that  impudence  of  power  which  invaded  their  pri- 
vate thoughts;  and  learned,  through  Roger  Williams,  and 
afterwards  through  William  Penn,  to  be  tolerant  of  mere 
opinions,  to  regulate  the  social  relations  of  life  by  human 
laws,  and  to  leave  religious  persuasions  and  conscientious 
scruples  to  God  alone.  So  every  party  planted  its  own  pecu- 
liar tree;  the  Quaker,  his  Quaker  tree;  the  Presbyterian,  his 
Presbyterian  tree;  the  Baptist  and  Methodist,  each  his  tree; 
even  the  Episcopalian  brought  over  a  seedling  quite  different 
from  the  parent  stem,  and  it  took  root  and  bloomed  in  the 
wilderness.  But  every  one  was  a  tree  of  liberty  and  brought 
forth  the  sweet  fruits  of  freedom;  and  every  man  sat  down 
with  his  wife  and  children  under  his  own,  rejoicing;  none  dar- 
ing to  molest  him  or  make  him  afraid. 

Such  is  a  hasty  and  most  imperfect  sketch  of  the  prelimi- 
nary process  employed  by  Divine  Providence  to  furnish  ma- 
terial of  which  to  construct  the  Temple  of  Liberty.  The  tim- 
ber was  hewn,  like  Solomon's  cedar  beams,  in  the  far  off  for- 
ests of  Lebanon,  and  brought  by  ships  on  sea  to  the  place  of 
construction.  The  marble  was  shaped  for  the  walls  by  many 
a  careful  blow  in  the  distant  quarries,  then  borne  to  the  spot 
and  laid  in  silence.  God  would  not  have  His  temple  where 
the  Heathen  would  profane  it,  but  bore  His  people  and  their 
principles  to  this  chosen  land.  That  men  needed  preparation 
by  the  sifting  process  of  mental  and  moral  conflict  carried  on 
for  centuries  in  Protestant  countries  of  the  old  world,  is  evi- 
dent from  the  utter  blindness  and  inaptitude  for  freedom  of 
the  Spanish  and  Portugese  colonies  on  this  continent.  It  is 
not  by  a  hasty,  bloody  war,  kindled  up  in  a  spasm  of  excite- 
ment, like  those  in  Mexico  and  South  America,  thirty  years 
ago,  that  a  nation  wins  its  liberty.  Our  own  revolution  was 
not  so  much  a  cause  as  an  effect  of  freedom.  People  may 
shake  off  a  foreign  yoke,  and  fasten  upon  themselves  one  of 
tenfold  weight.  They  must  think  and  pray  and  struggle  with 
heart  and  soul,  and  seek  light  from  God  above,  and  study  well 


AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  239 

His  works  and  ways  below,  before  they  can  bring  forth  new 
order,  beauty  and  truth,  from  old  confusion,  grim  abuse  and 
hoary  falsehood. 

It  was,  then,  after  a  vast  and  almost  infinite  series  of 
human  events,  that  our  national  freedom  became  ready  to  be 
born.  Men  had  to  examine  long  and  reason  much  before 
they  could  see  that  "all  men  are  created  equal"  in  their 
claims  to  justice  before  God  and  especially  before  man;  that 
government  is  made  for  the  people,  and  not  the  people  for 
the  government;  that  all  magistrates  from  high  to  low  are 
only  the  people's  instruments,  and  that  a  man  or  woman,  even 
the  poorest,  is  infinitely  greater  than  the  highest  magistrate  as 
such;  that  natural  rights  are  so  much  a  man's  own,  that  no 
power  on  earth  can  take  them  from  him,  and  inhere  so  strongly 
in  his  person  that  he  cannot  himself  give  them  away.  It  took 
time  to  reach  these  conclusions ;  but  at  last  our  fathers  reached 
them.  They  proclaimed  them  in  the  thrilling  tones  which 
rung  out  among  the  nations  like  the  trump  of  jubilee.  Mul- 
titudes of  men  politically  dead  and  buried  under  despotisms, 
started  in  mental  resurrection ;  and  from  that  time  to  this  the 
political  earth  has  been  quivering  and  heaving  with  the  life 
that  has  been  struggling  for  birth  in  its  bosom. 

But  what  have  we  been  doing  here,  freed  by  a  bloody 
struggle  from  British  power,  and  cut  off  by  vast  oceans  from 
fear  and  danger?  Some  noble  things,  which  should  be  ever 
sacredly  and  thankfully  commemorated.  The  sublimest  writ- 
ten theory  of  human  rights  which  had  been  up  to  that  time 
put  forth  in  form,  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence, 
was  the  work  of  fifty-six  brave  and  upright  men,  whom,  I  trust, 
we  shall  never  forget.  It  expressed  not  only  bright  and  gen- 
erous thoughts,  but  it  required  almost  superhuman  courage 
and  resolution.  One  of  those  heroes  said  at  signing,  with 
equal  wit  and  firmness,  "Now,  gentlemen,  we  must  all  hang 
together  by  our  own  consent,  or  hang  apart  by  British  author- 
ity." You  are  acquainted  with  the  terms  of  this  great  paper; 
I  need  not  repeat  them.  It  placed  society  on  the  broad,  level 
platform  of  justice;  denied  all  inherent  authority,  except  that 
of  inborn  rights;  and  asserted  that  from  these  all  government 
must  soring.     This  writing   and   signing  was  noble  in  those 


24O  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

delegates ;  and  the  support  of  it  was  noble  in  the  people.  That 
support  involved  a  struggle;  not  so  much  a  bloody  agony  of 
war  as  a  trial  of  long  patience  and  painful  endurance,  requir- 
ing far  more  faith  and  firmness  than  the  burning  of  gunpowder 
and  the  braving  of  cannon  balls.  When  the  British  saw  that 
our  fathers,  like  the  good  Washington,  were  governed  by  a 
principle  rather  than  maddened  by  revengeful,  murderous  pas- 
sions, they  knew  that  such  a  people  were  invincible,  and  would 
be  free.  Our  feeling  was  the  love  of  liberty  and  not  the  lust 
for  power;  and  that,  when  intelligent  and  pure,  will  conquer 
all  opposition.  These  acts  and  sentiments  were  sublime  and 
worthy  of  a  great  people. 

Our  fathers  told  God  and  all  the  world  that  they  believed 
in  and  relied  on  his  providence,  and  invoked  his  protection 
and  his  sanction  upon  the  pledge  of  their  lives,  their  fortunes, 
and  their  sacred  honor.  Their  prayer  was,  "Let  us  be  free; 
commit  to  us  the  grand  experiment  to  make  our  laws,  to  choose 
our  magistrates,  and  work  out  our  destiny,  exempt  from  the 
selfish  interference  of  lords  and  kings;  and  we  will  remember 
thee,  Almighty  Father,  imitate  thy  justice  and  copy  thy  be- 
nevolence."    This  aspiration  and  responsibility  was  sublime. 

When  the  pressure  of  war  which  bound  them  in  one — E 
Pluribus  Unum — was  over,  and  repellant  local  interests  threat- 
ened to  divide  them,  they  determined  to  form  a  general  con- 
stitution, and  this  was  its  basis :  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice, 
ensure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence, 
promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this 
constitution  for  the  United  States  of  America."  These  pro- 
positions are  grand  and  Godlike.  They  cover,  not  a  favored 
portion,  a  class  or  a  clique,  but  "the  people,"  every  human  be- 
ing, male  and  female.  Under  them  must  be  no  discord,  but 
perfect  union;  no  oppression,  but  unyielding,  established  jus- 
tice ;  tranquillity  is  ensured  by  cherishing  impartially  the  rights 
of  all;  all  men  in  common  shall  be  defended  from  injury;  gen- 
eral and  universal,  not  merely  a  selfish  or  local  welfare,  shall 
be  promoted;   and  last,  and  best  of  all,  these  almost  heavenly 


AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  24I 

blessings  shall  be  secured  forever  to  ourselves  and  our  pos- 
terity. 

This  bright  theory  resembles  the  millennial  glory;  and 
what  have  been  its  fruits?  Why,  really,  the  mightiest  nation 
on  earth  has  been  born  in  a  day;  mightiest  in  its  power  of  de- 
fence, the  only  violent  power  that  a  nation  needs,  a  wall  of 
freeborn  hearts;  mightiest  in  its  moral  example,  to  prove  that 
intelligent  and  virtuous  men  need  no  other  king  than  the  Ma- 
jesty on  high;  mightiest  in  its  utilities  and  locomotion,  mak- 
ing the  wilderness  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose,  and  cast- 
ing up  highways  among  the  nations  both  by  land  and  sea,  so 
that  many  may  run  to  and  fro,  and  knowledge  may  increase. 
Our  nation  has  been  mighty  in  its  attractions,  so  that  crushed 
outcasts  have  flocked  hither  from  many  lands  and  found  plenty, 
peace  and  home.  Here  woman  has  found,  or  is  finding,  her 
highest,  noblest  career;  the  acknowledged  equal  of  man  in 
education,  talents  and  rights,  she  becomes  the  intelligent,  high- 
souled  mother  of  a  generation  still  more  progressive  and  en- 
lightened than  our  own;  and  there  begins,  in  this  land,  to  be 
seen,  what  ought  to  have  been  plain  before,  that  her  capacity 
to  perform  is  the  best  index  of  her  duty;  and  that  the  radius 
of  her  own  intellect  is  the  best  measure  wherewith  to  describe 
her  sphere. 

Further  still,  the  strife  between  labor  and  capital,  that 
terrible  element  of  discord  and  suffering  among  the  older  na- 
tions, is  not  here,  on  one  side,  an  imperious  cry,  "Drudge  or 
starve!"  nor  on  the  other  a  hungry  tiger's  growl  for  "bread 
or  blood."  I  cannot  say,  with  a  flowery  orator,  on  a  late  oc- 
casion, in  a  contiguous  grove,  that  this  and  nearly  every  other 
possible  social  and  moral  problem  has  been  solved,  and  that 
American  legislation  has  nothing  more  to  do.  But  I  do  re- 
joice to  feel  that  this  question  of  work  and  wages  is  becoming 
every  day  more  and  more  a  question  of  mutual,  calm,  deliber- 
ate, determined,  intelligent  discussion;  and,  trusting  in  the 
kind  wisdom  of  God  to  guide  the  honest  efforts  of  men,  I 
cherish  the  hope  that  the  day  is  near  when  moral  laws,  laws 
of  benevolence  and  equity,  shall  regulate  production  and  dis- 
tribution as  harmoniously  as  physical  laws  control  the  planet- 
ary forces.     I  trust  that  soon  every  family  shall  have  its  little 


242  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

spot  of  ground,  its  own  pure,  beautiful  home,  inalienable  like 
the  inheritance  of  the  Hebrews,  to  be  invaded  by  no  cunning 
speculator,  nor  torn  away  by  the  greedy  creditor's  relentless 
hand.  May  the  time  come  when  pensions  shall  be  given,  if 
need  be,  to  the  faithful,  worn-out  laborer  in  the  arts  of  peace, 
even  more  than  they  are  now  to  the  transient  and  often  worth- 
less straggler  in  the  bloody  acts  of  war;  when  every  virtuous 
young  man  and  woman  who  need  it  shall  receive  a  premium 
at  marriage,  as  men  now  get  patents  for  useful  inventions; 
when  the  floating  currency  of  bank's  shall  be  taxed  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  hold  it,  upon  the  institution  that  issues  it; 
when  the  hoarded  bonds  of  covetous  wealth  shall  be  reported 
by  the  debtors  who  must  pay  them,  and  taxed  upon  them  who 
hold  them;  and  when  the  rich  shall  be  assessed  beyond  the 
poor,  not  as  now  in  an  arithmetical,  but  in  a  geometrical  pro- 
portion. 

Last  of  all,  it  is  to  the  glory  of  our  country,  that  a  moral, 
reformatory  spirit  is  more  and  more  pervading  its  legislation, 
preventive  rather  than  punitive.  As  every  good  parent  en- 
deavors to  prevent  the  seeds  of  vice  from  taking  root  in  the 
hearts  of  his  offspring,  so  a  wise  and  virtuous  commonwealth 
will  look  after  her  children,  and  see  that  their  souls  are  not 
corrupted  by  those  selfish  foes  of  the  human  race  that  are 
found  in  every  community.  It  is  therefore  matter  of  devout 
thanksgiving  to  behold  our  various  states,  one  after  another, 
crushing  the  eggs  and  tearing  up  the  nests  of  the  crocodiles 
which  give  being  to  drunkards  and  gamblers  and  licentious 
ruffians.  The  smiles  of  heaven  must  grow  more  bright  when 
its  inmates  look  down  on  the  messengers  of  love  and  peace 
below,  who,  like  the  Hebrew  prophet,  have  struck  with  devout 
hand  the  barren  rock  of  legislation  and  caused  the  healing 
waters  of  a  nation's  benificence  to  flow  for  the  satisfying  of  the 
fainting  heart  and  the  cleansing  of  the  neglected,  degraded 
soul.  The  proud  monarchies  and  fierce  republics  of  old,  and 
the  refined  and  heartless  civilization  of  our  modern  era,  have 
always  poured  the  public  treasures  into  the  vortex  of  war,  or 
employed  them  to  gild  the  monuments  of  victory,  or  at  best 
lavished  them  on  works  of  mere  national  utility  and  glory. 
The  wail  of  the  God-stricken,  of  the  lame,  the  deaf  and  the 


AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  243 

blind,  was  unheard  or  disregarded  by  the  public  ear  of  Greece 
and  Rome;  and  modern  nations  give  millions  to  destroy,  but 
little  to  save,  mankind.     Not  so  here.     In  our  land  free  dis- 
cussion and  a  free  press  are  like  the  harp  of  Orpheus;  and  the 
genius  of  eloquent  Philanthropy  plays  upon  its  strings.     The 
stubborn  trees  and  hard  rocks  of  public  indifference  are  moved  ; 
the  greedy,  voracious  beasts  of  party  politics  are  softened  and 
charmed.     The   heart  of  the  nation  grows  tender  when  the 
good  Miss  Dix  and  her  loving  fellow  laborers  make  their  ap- 
peal; its  coffers  are  opened;    the  palace-asylum  springs  from 
the  ground,  a  garden-like  Eden  blooms  around  it;    "the  eyes 
of  the  blind  are  opened,  and  the  ears  of  the  deaf  unstopped; 
the  lame  man  leaps  as  a  harp,  and  the  tongue  of  the  dumb 
sings."     The  flickering  ray  of  intellect  is  cherished  even  in  the 
idiot's  soul;  drop  after  drop  of  the  oil  of  gentleness  and  love, 
applied  for  many  years  to  that  dim  spark,  is  found  to  kindle 
it  to  a  flame  of  happy  consciousness  and  heavenly  hope.     The 
poorest  man's  child,  whose  birth  in  many  a  land  is  a  great 
sorrow  to  his  mother,  and  whose  life  is  a  burden  to  himself, 
is  here  invited,  a  welcome  guest,  to   the   common  "  feast   of 
reason,"  and  lured  to  the  race  of  intellect  and  honor  by  the 
side  of  the  rich  man's  son.     The  commonwealth  says  to  every 
one,  "I  am  thy  impartial  mother,  and  will  feed  thee  with  the 
sweets  of  wisdom." 

Such  is  a  feeble  sketch  of  the  daylight  of  America.  Now, 
behold  her  darkness,  her  shame  and  her  dishonor!  Oh,  my 
country!  art  thou  at  once  the  greatest  and  the  meanest  of  na- 
tions ?  Truly,  our  institutions  present  to  the  world  a  paradox, 
which  must,  by  turns,  delight  and  terrify  the  good  and  the 
wicked,  and  at  all  times  puzzle  the  wise.  It  is  a  crime  against 
our  statute  and  organic  laws,  to  deprive  one  individual  of  a 
single  privilege;  but  it  is  the  glory  of  those  who  control  the 
land  to  rob  four  million  human  beings  of  every  right,  and  of 
themselves  besides,  their  children,  their  bodies  and  their  minds. 
Our  national  theory  says  we  must  "establish  justice  and  se- 
cure liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity";  our  national 
practice  aims  to  build  up  wrong  and  outrage  and  make  slavery 
universal  and  eternal.  "Hide  the  outcast,  and  betray  not  him 
that  wandereth,"  said  the  oldest  law-giver;  and  "no  man  shall 


244  REV-  SAMUEL   AARON. 

be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or  property  without  due  process  of 
law,"  is  the  language  of  our  own  Constitution.  "But,  thou 
shalt  surely  seize  the  friendless  stranger  and  deliver  him  to 
the  man-thief  who  claims  him  as  a  slave,"  is  the  most  strenuous 
command  of  our  Federal  Government  since  1850,  to  a  free 
people.  Its  surest  protection  and  highest  rewards  are  be- 
stowed on  him  who  is  most  zealous  in  that  cause;  but  the 
man  who  scorns  to  be  a  bloodhound  incurs  its  bitterest  fury. 
The  pettiest  federal  appointment  is  conditioned  on  a  zeal  for 
slavery;  and  men  without  intellect  or  standing  are  fit  for 
national  service,  if  they  have  yelled  fiercely  on  the  track  of  a 
hunted  man.  But,  should  Washington  return  to  earth,  in- 
vested as  he  is  with  sacred  memories  and  crowned  with  world- 
wide and  undying  fame,  he  would  be  unfit,  because  he  hated 
slavery,  to  command  a  regiment  or  collect  the  revenue  at 
Charlestown;  and  Jefferson,  the  Solon  of  Democracy,  and 
writer  of  the  great  Declaration,  could  not  be  appointed  Li- 
brarian to  Congress,  nor  Minister  to  St.  Domingo. 

The  most  popular  feature  of  American  Christianity  is  a 
bitter  hatred  to  the  practical  lovers  of  impartial  freedom;  and 
no  man  is  hired  to  say  one  prayer  for  Congress,  unless  he  be- 
lieves that  Paul  sent  back  the  slave  Onesimus.  The  Protest- 
ant Bible  and  religious  books  and  tracts  are  scattered  broad- 
cast over  all  the  earth,  and  are  declared  to  be  the  leaves  of  the 
tree  of  life  for  the  healing  of  the  nations,  while  the  voice  of  the 
living  preacher  rings  out  in  every  tongue.  In  carrying  on  this 
great  mission,  the  various  governments  are  conciliated,  de- 
ceived or  defied,  on  the  plea  that  God  has  sent  a  message 
which  every  man  must  hear.  But,  lo!  the  Southern  half  of 
this  great  republic  quashes  this  plea,  with  the  entire  approval 
of  those  who  urge  it,  shuts  out  from  four  millions  of  its  people 
the  message  and  the  messenger;  sells  women  at  high  prices, 
into  prostitution  to  send  the  Gospel  to  China;  gashes  the  flesh 
of  the  slave  at  home  who  would  spell  the  name  of  Jesus; 
tortures  or  murders  the  man  that  would  teach  him.  Mean- 
while it  claims  to  possess  the  purest  religion  and  the  warmest 
piety  to  be  found  on  earth;  and,  by  the  churches  of  the  North, 
that  claim  is  widely  conceded.  All  sins  in  our  land  are  dis- 
cussed and  denounced  in  sermons,  books  and  tracts,  from  the 


AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE.  245 

crime  of  murder  down  to  the  gaiety  of  the  ball-room,  and  the 
love  of  show  which  sets  a  feather  on  a  matron's  bonnet  or  a 
ring  on  a  maiden's  finger;  but  the  act  of  tearing  infants  from 
their  mother's  bosoms,  or  of  selling  one's  beautiful  daughter 
into  nameless  infamy,  or  of  scourging  men  and  women  to 
deathly  toil,  is  not  once  named  in  the  catalogue  of  transgres- 
sions, nor  does  the  word  "slavery"  appear  in  the  millions  of 
pious  volumes  which  are  diffused  throughout  the  community. 
The  phrases,  "peculiar  institutions,"  "pious  masters,"  and 
"happy  servants,"  dwell,  to  be  sure,  on  many  a  consecrated 
lip,  where  logic,  eloquence  and  "piety"  combine  to  save  our 
Union  and  the  "church";  but  contempt  and  starvation  in  the 
North  from  persons  of  "standing,"  and  curses,  hemp  and  fag- 
gots, in  the  South,  await  the  man  who  preaches  equal  liberty 
and  justice  to  all  throughout  the  land. 

To  maintain  the  harmony  of  such  a  brotherhood,  and 
cherish  and  extend  the  spirit  of  such  a  patriotism,  in  willing 
subordination  to  the  two  hundred  thousand  voting  dealers  in 
human  flesh,  is  the  way,  the  only  way,  according  to  the  teach- 
ings of  Church  and  State,  to  preserve  "this  glorious  Union;" 
and  such  an  agreement  of  North  and  South  and  East  and  West 
— "is  the  Union,"  the  salvation  of  which,  our  orator  of  the 
Fourth  assured  us,  would  be  cheaply  bought  by  the  life-blood 
of  every  soul  in  this  great  commonwealth.  "  Credat  Judceus 
Apella!"  On  the  contrary,  if  this  be  our  Union,  and  these  its 
purposes,  the  curse  of  Heaven  and  the  scorn  of  earth  shall  fall 
upon  it;  the  irrepressible  instincts  of  nature,  controlled  by  the 
fury  of  revenge,  shall  wake  up  massacre ;  civil  and  servile 
strife  shall  ripen  to  anarchy,  and  our  boasted  institutions  rot 
into  despotism.  • 

But  let  our  "Union"  be  made  a  means  to  the  glorious  end 
of  impartial  justice  and  equal  liberty;  let  it  be  a  safe  asylum 
for  every  fugitive  from  oppression  and  outrage;  let  it  be  an 
hospital,  where  the  wounded  and  the  broken  hearted,  the  sin- 
ful and  the  sorrowing,  may  find  healing,  purity  and  peace;  let 
it  be  a  sacred  temple,  wide  as  the  continent,  high  as  heaven 
and  free  as  air,  in  which  every  human  being  may  keep  his  own 
conscience  here  below,  and  worship,  at  its  dictates,  his  God 
above;   then  shall  our  "Union"  be  the  light  and  the   glory  of 


246  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

all  nations.  It  shall  attract  the  hearts  and  win  the  confidence 
of  men,  and  pay  back  their  tribute  with  peace  and  freedom. 
It  shall  point  out  to  rational  princes  a  higher  elevation  than 
their  thrones;  and  make  an  injured  peasantry  more  noble  than 
their  former  kings. 

For  this  our  prayers  shall  rise, 
To  this  our  hearts  shall  cling; 
'Till  earth  become  a  paradise, 
And  God  our  only  King! 


SELECTIONS. 


ODE  TO  SIMPLICITY. 

Artless  Simplicity,  wilt  thou  inspire  me 

To  sing  of  thy  beauties  in  strains  of  thy  own  ? 

O,  breathe  through  my  lines,  and  with  energy  fire  me, 
To  paint  thy  soft  charms  to  the  pompous  unknown. 

Thy  mien  how  engaging,  how  graceful  each  feature, 
Thy  form  has  the  semblance  of  beauty  above; 

The  first  and  the  favorite  offspring  of  Nature, 
The  sister  to  Virtue,  companion  of  Love. 

How  modest,  how  humble  the  train  that  surround  thee; 

How  sweet  are  thy  pleasures,  how  often  denied, 
How  seldom  beheld  as  the  prophet  first  found  thee 

With  Adam  in  Eden  and  Eve  his  fair  bride. 

Adorn'd  with  thy  beauties  and  clad  with  thy  graces, 
They  needed  no  tinsel  to  heighten  their  charms; 

In  bow'rs  breathing  odors,  in  halcyon  embraces 
They  felt  divine  raptures  enclos'd  by  thy  arms. 

Yet,  mournful  delusion  !  these  scenes  so  endearing 
Were  doom'd  to  be  blasted  and  render'd  forlorn ; 

The  specious  dissembler,  the  tempter  appearing, 
Pluck'd  up  the  fair  primrose  and  planted  the  thorn. 

He  ting'd  false  enjoyments  with  colors  deceiving, 
He  painted  the  wisdom  that  thou  couldst  attain ; 

Simplicity  heard,  and,  too  fondly  believing, 
Partook  of  the  pleasure, — but,  ah !  it  was  pain. 

With  shame  thou  wast  cover'd,  thy  loveliness  vanish'd, 
The  groves  odorif'rous  beheld  thee  no  more; 

From  Paradise  quickly  thy  train  were  all  banish'd, 
And  its  children  left  naked  thy  loss  to  deplore. 

Thy  charms  now  forgotten,  unseen,  undesired, 
No  longer  man  woos  thee  to  make  thee  his  own ; 

Parade,  pomp  and  splendor  are  only  admired, 
Whilst  thou  art  forsaken,  despis'd  or  unknown. 

Remote  from  the  concourse  of  follies  and  fashions, 
Inspiring  the  notes  of  the  songsters  of  spring, 

The  woodland  inhabitants,  breathing  thy  passions, 
Thy  beauties  instinctively,  artlessly  sing. 


248  REV.  SAMUEL   AARON. 

Oh  !  if  thou  art  found  in  the  dwellings  of  mortals, 
Where,  where  shall  I  seek  thee,  Simplicity  ?  say. 

Thou  art  not  enclos'd  by  magnificent  portals, 

Where  tyrants  command  and  where  menials  obey. 

Perchance  with  the  school-boy  thou  climbest  the  mountain 
To  see  the  wild  cuckoo  or  nest  of  the  dove; 

Perchance  thou  art  found  at  the  crystalline  fountain 
Where  young  men  and  maidens  are  dreaming  of  love. 

Perhaps  with  the  shepherd  thy  footsteps  are  wand'ring, 
Whilst  tuning  his  lute  to  some  wild  rural  strain; 

Whilst  thro'  the  green  pastures  his  flocks  are  meand'ring, 
And  cropping  the  daisies  that  tincture  the  plain. 

That  household  contains  thee  whose  members  united 
Are  paying  their  vows  to  their  sov'reign  above; 

Thou  bearest,  sweet  maiden,  the  tribute,  delighted, 
On  angelic  wings  to  the  mansions  of  love. 

And  the  era  approaches,  unspeakably  glorious, 
When  mankind  in  concert  shall  socially  join 

To  give  thee  kind  welcome,  o'er  fashion  victorious, 
And  bury  their  pomp  at  the  base  of  thy  shrine. 

Then  vice,  fraud  and  calumny,  envy  and  slander, 
Shall  sink  to  the  regions  of  darkness  again; 

And  virtue,  simplicity,  truth,  love  and  candor, 
Take  up  their  abode  with  the  children  of  men. 
1819. 


LINES 

Written  on  the  death  of  a  young  girl,  aged  1 5  years. 

Life  triumphed  in  the  blooming  girl, 

The  parents'  hope,  the  brother's  joy; 
Death,  envious  Death,  beheld  the  scene, 

And  hastened,  ruthless,  to  destroy.        * 

Death  triumphed  in  the  fell  disease, 

Made  the  young  form  a  lifeless  clod; 
But  Life,  unconquer'd,  kept  the  soul 

And  bore  it  to  the  throne  of  God. 

Death  grimly  closed  the  stony  vault, 

And  locked  the  portals  of  the  grave; 
But  Life,  triumphant,  grasped  the  key, 

Constant  in  love  and  strong  to  save. 

And,  lo!  the  resurrection  voice 

Which  woke  the  dead  of  Palestine, 
Shall  call  to  Rachel's  sleeping  dust, 

And  raise  it  to  a  life  divine.  S.  Aaron. 


SELECTIONS.  249 

A  Platform  Scene. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1862,  Colonel  James  W.  Wall 
was  invited  by  the  Common  Council  of  Burlington  to  deliver 
an  address  on  the  "Compromises  of  the  Constitution."  Col- 
onel Wall,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  been  arrested  as  a  rebel 
sympathizer,  incarcerated  in  Fort  Lafayette,  and  was  subse- 
quently released  without  parole.  In  his  address,  he  took  the 
ground  that  the  Constitution  was  a  compromise.  The  hall 
was  crowded,  many  Republicans  who  opposed  his  views  being 
present.     There  was  no  disturbance. 

Rev.  Samuel  Aaron  was  invited  to  answer  Colonel  Wall. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  notice  published  in  the  Burling- 
ton papers : 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Aaron  is  to  give  a  lecture,  admittance  free,  at  the  City  Hall, 
Thursday  evening,  the  27th  instant,  at  7.30  o'clock.  Subject :  "Our  Constitution." 
He  means  to  elaborate  the  idea  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  not  a 
compromise  between  right  and  wrong,  but  a  covenant  between  the  whole  nation 
and  all  its  parts  to  establish  justice  and  secure  and  cherish  liberty ;  to  protect 
patriotism  and  punish  traitors. 

The  invitation  was  extended  to  the  Mayor  of  Burlington 
and  other  prominent  citizens  of  the  place,  and  it  was  under- 
stood Mr.  Aaron's  remarks  would  be  a  reply  to  the  arguments 
of  Colonel  Wall.  When  the  lecturer  commenced  his  dis- 
course the  hall  was  crowded,  two-thirds  of  the  congregation 
being  ladies.  There  were  no  indications  of  a  disturbance.  Mr. 
Aaron  proceeded,  and  among  his  first  declamatory  remarks 
was  an  assault  upon  General  McClellan,  who,  he  said,  had 
been  frightened  by  wooden  guns. 

A  voice  demanded,  "What  have  you  to  say  against  Gen- 
eral McClellan?" 

The  speaker  said  he  was  only  commenting  upon  facts. 

"Yes,"  replied  his  interrogator,  "If  McClellan  had  a  black 
stripe  down  his  back  he  would  suit  you  better." 

Mr.  Aaron  proceeded  again  for  some  ten  minutes.  He 
spoke  of  John  Brown  as  being  a  martyr  to  principle — as  a 
meek,  heavenly-minded  man,  who  went  down  south  with 
peaceful  intentions;  whose  sole  object  was  to  free  the  bond- 
man from  his  shackles;  and  the  bloody  assassins  murdered 
him.     He  went  on  to  say  that  Colonel  Wall  had  recently  de- 


250  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

livered  a  lecture  in  the  same  hall,  in  which  he  had  charged 
the  abolitionists  with  denouncing  the  Constitution  as  a 
"covenant  with  death  and  a  league  with  hell."  He  did  not 
believe  this,  unless  the  declaration  of  Judge  Taney  was 
correct — that  the  negro  was  not  a  citizen.  If  that  decision 
were  true,  then  he  (the  Rev.  Mr.  Aaron)  did  not  hesitate  to 
declare  that  the  Constitution  was  a  "league  with  the  devil  and 
a  covenant  with  hell";  and  the  sooner  it  was  abolished  the 
better. 

Here  there  was  a  volley  of  eggs  aimed  at  the  speaker, 
but  none  of  which  touched  him.  The  confusion  which  fol- 
lowed was  almost  indescribable.  Ladies  became  frantic  with 
alarm,  and  some  jumped  from  the  hall  windows,  about  eight 
feet  from  the  ground.  None  were,  however,  seriously  in- 
jured— a  sprained  ankle  being  about  the  most  serious  dam- 
age. The  lecturer  stopped  during  the  occurrence,  but  subse- 
quently resumed  his  remarks. 

He  dwelt  with  severity  upon  the  last  Administration,  de- 
nouncing with  particular  vehemence  President  Buchanan. 
He  spoke  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison  as  a  very  much  abused 
man,  and  described  him  as  a  great  defender  of  liberty.  He 
declared  that  the  men  who  abused  Wendell  Phillips  were 
unworthy  to  tie  his  shoe  latches,  and  said  that  he  (Mr.  Aaron) 
had  been  for  years  laboring  to  bring  the  public  mind  to  a 
right  way  of  thinking  on  this  subject,  and  that  the  people  of 
the  North,  he  was  proud  to  say,  were  flocking  to  the  platform 
he  had  stood  upon  for  so  many  years. 

Here  there  was  another  volley  of  eggs  and  intense  ex- 
citement. The  Mayor,  who  was  on  the  platform  with  the 
speaker,  left  it  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing  the  disturbance. 
As  he  proceeded  to  the  entrance  of  the  hall  he  found  it 
blocked  up  by  exasperated  people,  and  a  city  constable  was 
found  in  the  condition  of  being  throttled  by  one  of  the 
rioters.     *     *     * 


SELECTIONS.  25  I 

Banks  and  Financiers  and  Currency. 

Mr.  Aaron   in  "Truth,"  February  10,  1842. 

The  utmost  efforts  have  been  used  for  a  number  of  years 
past,  by  the  keen-witted  and  glib-tongued  idlers  of  our  land, 
to  convince  the  great  body  of  the  people,  the  producing  mass, 
that  the  prime  object  of  legislation  should  be  to  aid  the  afore- 
said idle  schemers  in  getting  rich,  and  the  wealthy  in  increas- 
ing their  abundance,  so  that  these  two  classes  might,  of  the 
fullness  of  their  bounty,  deal  out  enough  and  to  spare  to  the 
sweaty-browed  laborer  and  care-worn  toiler  for  daily  bread. 
Their  language,  meant  if  not  spoken,  has  been,  "Help  the 
gifted  financier  and  protect  the  moneyed  class,  and  they  will 
make  money  plentiful  and  good,  and  take  care  of  all  the  rest." 
This  experiment  has  been  tried  in  Pennsylvania  on  a  magnifi- 
cent scale,  by  the  agency  of  mammoth  banks  and  financiering 
on  public  works,  and  has  resulted  in  bestowing  unearned  and 
sometimes  princely  wealth  on  a  few  persons,  and  saddling  a 
public  debt  of  forty  millions  on  the  Commonwealth,  and  a 
much  greater  loss  than  forty  millions  on  private  individuals, 
many  of  them  widows  and  orphans,  reduced  from  an  easy 
competence  to  actual  destitution. 

This  wretched  state  of  things  has  resulted  in  a  great 
measure  from  the  arrogant  assumption  that  the  honest  labor- 
ing people  are  incompetent  to  ascertain  and  promote  their  own 
best  interests,  and  that,  therefore,  men  of  talents  must  manu- 
facture for  them  wealth  and  happiness.  These  brilliant  finan- 
ciers and  active  guardians  of  the  public  weal  have  given  the 
people  plenty  of  promissory  rags  instead  of  their  hard  cash. 
This  seeming  plenty  of  money  has  made  us  all  luxurious; 
and  while  foreign  nations  have  shut  out  our  produce  our 
financiers  have  sent  them  our  specie  to  pay  in  part  for  what 
we  should  have  done  without.  And  so  we  have  European 
luxuries  and  irredeemable  bank  notes,  and  a  foreign  debt  of 
two  hundred  millions,  instead  of  hard  money  and  homespun 
independence. 

Now,  when  the  people  at  large  shall  be  really  satisfied 
that  their  own  common  sense  and  home-bred  honesty  are  as 


252  REV.  SAMUEL    AARON. 

essential  to  public  as  to  private  welfare,  they  will  insist  on  less 
legislation,  and  on  none  at  all  of  a  partial  character;  they  will 
see  that  a  free  people  should  have  no  laws  to  help  one  man 
up  by  putting  another  down ;  that  they  need  none  to  aid  them 
in  getting  rich;  but  solely  to  protect  them  in  the  sacred 
rights  of  property  and  person ;  to  protect  them  effectually  in 
doing  what  they  please,  while  they  do  no  harm  to  themselves 
or  others.  The  desire  and  the  right  of  an  honest  man  are  to 
be  let  alone  and  have  a  chance  to  reach  that  standing  to  which 
his  real  worth  entitles  him.  Away  with  the  idea  of  giving 
some  men  power  and  authority  by  law  on  the  pretext  that 
they  will  use  them  for  the  good  of  others. 

And  what  gives  any  useful  article  of  exchange  its  real 
value?  The  amount  of  human  labor  bestowed  upon  it,  is  the 
answer  of  honest  common  sense.  Why  is  a  bushel  of  potatoes 
worth  fifty  cents?  Because  it  requires  as  much  labor  to  raise 
the  bushel  of  potatoes  as  it  does  to  find,  and  dig,  and  melt, 
and  refine,  and  shape,  and  coin  the  silver  ore  in  half  a  dollar. 
A  favorable  season  will  produce  more  potatoes  for  the  same 
labor,  and  then  they  will  be  cheaper.  But  does  a  slip  of  bank 
paper  take  its  value  from  the  labor  expended  on  it?  No. 
It  is,  then,  good  for  nothing,  unless  it  represents  the  specie  it 
promises  to  pay. 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  

0035520779 


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938.5 
Aaron 
Rev.  Samuel  Aaron. 


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